


Unconscious love

by DearDead



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex Danvers Needs a Hug, Angst, Attempt at Humor, F/F, Happy Kara Danvers, Kalex, Kara Danvers is Supergirl, Memory Loss, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 14:04:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17509991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearDead/pseuds/DearDead
Summary: Kara Danvers was a mistake.What if Kara took it literally ?Kara chooses to have her memory wiped after too many losses because she can't take it anymore.Alex and their friends try to process this decision, understanding but still hurt.Without the memory of being Alex's foster sister, Kara, as Supergirl, finds herself liking Alex more than just a friend.It's Alex's choice now, to choose accepting Kara's new love for her or letting her overwhelming feelings about Kara's decision get in the way.





	1. Second life

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I've been working on this one for a few months and finally decided to post part of it. I'm still writing the end but, for once, know where I'm going with this !
> 
> It'll be part of a series, but I don't know how many parts it'll be yet.
> 
> Enjoy, and I'd really appreciate some feedback on this cause it's quite long and new for me :)
> 
> Thank you !

"Agent Danvers !" the tall blonde greeted the shorter woman.

"Hey Supergirl," Alex greeted back with a smile. "Here on your second job ?"

Supergirl nodded, smiling as she walked next to the brunette. "Yeah, I have some time before I got to go back to my real one."

"Oh, I see how it is," said Alex as she slowed her pace until she stopped completely, making Supergirl turn around in confusion. "So, we're just, what, a _replacement_  for you, is that it ? Are we not good enough ?" she asked with a mock hurt expression, sniffing for good measure. 

Supergirl grinned before schooling her features back into a serious expression. "It's not what you think, I can explain, I promise !" she replied with a fake distressed expression, her hands in a placating gesture.

Just as Alex was going to continue their charade, a voice cut her off. "Explain what ?" 

They both turned to see Director Henshaw walking towards them. "Nothing, we were just joking," giggled Supergirl.

Alex tried to keep her mask of professionalism but completely failed as a slow smile appeared traitorously. She pursed her lips to try and hide it, but it was no use against a Green Martian. "Don't you have a job to do ? Both of you ?" he grumbled, clearly displeased by  the lack of seriousness.

Supergirl rolled her lips, looking like a kid, and gave Alex a tight smile and a small nod before flying off.  
They waited a few seconds, and once certain Kara would be too far away to hear them, Henshaw turned to face Alex. She sensed the lecture coming and closed her eyes in anticipation. 

"What are you _doing_?" he scolded. 

"Nothing," she mumbled, stubborn.

He crossed his arms and looked at her from his tall height, a frown on his face. "Alex," he warned. 

She sighed, passing her hand through her hair. "I know, I know. I just— I can't stay away from her. I thought I could, but she keeps finding me, following me around... Just like before," she said with a sad shake of her head, looking at the sky where Kara just disappeared. 

He put a hand on her shoulder with a grave look. "I know it's hard, Alex. I miss her too. But she chose this. Staying close to her like this... It could put her choice in jeopardy," he said with a calm voice. 

She closed her eyes again, trying to slow the quick beating of her heart. "I know," she finally replied. "I know that. I also know why she chose this, why she did what she did, and that it's for her own good. I'm trying J'onn," she promised. "I really am. But it's like I forget everything when she's here."

He nodded with a look of understanding. "I know. I know," he murmured gently. He squeezed her shoulder in support, taking a few seconds to think. "If you need to relocate, Alex, I will help you," he offered hesitantly.

Alex's head snapped towards him with a flabbergasted expression. "What ? Why ?"

He dropped his hand, letting it fall at his side as he looked into Alex's eyes. "If it becomes too difficult for you, if you think you might make Kara actually remember, I want you to know you have options. You can leave if you choose to. It's your choice, as it was Kara's."

She pursed her lips, looking hurt at the suggestion. "I'm fine," she snapped before walking away, away from J'onn, away from where she was just messing around with Kara— with _Supergirl._

 

 

* * *

 

 

Alex was rubbing her temples, elbows on the railing watching over the DEO from above. She really shouldn't have drank this much, why did she do this to herself ?

"Agent Danvers !" Supergirl waved.

_Oh, right. That was why._

"Hey," she forced a smile.

Kara's sunny smile dimmed and she quickly closed the distance between them, imitating Alex's position, shoulders brushing. "What's wrong ?" she asked gently.

"Nothing," she replied to fast, Supergirl seeing right through her. "Drank too much," she corrected herself, sighing.

"Oh, do you need medication ?" asked the kind, innocent superhero. 

Alex chuckled at Kara's offer. "No thank you Supergirl, already took some. And coffee, a lot of coffee. Plus, you must have better things to do."

Supergirl frowned, watching Alex closely. "I don't actually. I can take care of my friends," she stated seriously. 

Alex's heart hurt. Because Kara considered her as a friend, which was a good thing in their position, and because Kara considered her as a _friend_. It was a lot and not enough at the same time, which unsettled Alex greatly.   
She couldn't find her footing with Kar— _Supergirl_ , and kept tripping over her words, afraid to let something slip. 

"Thanks," she croaked, voice unsteady. 

Supergirl bit her lower lip, eyebrows still scrunched together. "Can I do something to help ?" she asked.

Alex smiled gratefully but shook her head, which had her hold it in place as everything turned around her. "Ugh, sorry, a bit dizzy right now," she grumbled, embarrassed to be seen like this by Kara. "And no, I don't think there's anything else to do but wait." Supergirl looked worried and it made Alex lit up a little, secretly glad she still cared without even remembering her. "Thank you though," she said, putting her hand on her forearm. 

After she saw Kara— _Supergirl_ look at her hand on her arm, she realized what she did and quickly pulled it back, straightening as she took a step back and cleared her throat awkwardly. She glanced at her, seeing her still looking at where her hand has been just a second ago with a puzzled look. 

She quickly sobered up, no longer flustered but worried, worried she might have messed it up somehow. Did she make Kara remember something ?

"Anyway," she said a little too loudly, making Supergirl flinch at the volume. She grimaced with an apologetic look and kept speaking. "I need to go, DEO business." She cringed internally at the lame excuse. "I'll see you around," she tightly smiled, nodding once as she walked away.

Supergirl didn't say another word, just silently watching her go with an odd expression.

Alex cursed in her head, not believing she let herself go, let herself relax around K— _Supergirl._ What a mistake. She risked everything because of her carelessness, and she couldn't even fix the damage she caused.   
_If_ she actually messed up, she didn't know that for sure. She was vulnerable in her hangover state and let herself go back to old habits, making her feel more approachable and more touchy-feely than usual, maybe that's why Supergirl looked at her oddly. Yeah, that must be it. 

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her fast beating heart and continued walking, not really knowing where to exactly. She realized she was close to the training room where she used to train with Kara, her feet somehow leading her down memory lane. _Traitors._  
She sighed and kept walking towards the training room, resigned to feel blue for the rest of the day. 

She sat down on the raised platform, eyes looking down at her feet as she just thought about Kara, grieved her. She was still there as Supergirl, her personality not so different in the end, but Alex still noticed every small differences. This Kara didn't share her memories, didn't share their fears and happiness.   
She didn't remember breaking Alex's arm when they were children as she threw the football a little too hard. Didn't remember how she saved her when Alex nearly fell of their tree house, how she hugged her fiercely after, scared to death at the idea of losing yet another person; another member of her family. 

She wiped a few stray tears, sniffing as she thought about the sisters' nights that weren't anymore, all the ice cream that she brought for Kara and would go to waste at her place. She chuckled a watery laugh when she realized that Kara might have finished all of her ice cream behind her back.

She startled at the sudden voice echoing in the round room. "Want to talk about it ?"

She looked up to see Kara— _Supergirl_ leaning on the wall with her shoulder, looking worried. She roughly wiped the rest of the evidence, ashamed to have been caught in a moment of weakness. "I'm fine," she replied a little to curtly. "Sorry," she amended, sniffling. "It's just— I miss someone very much, and sometimes it catches me off guard." 

It wasn't a complete lie; she _did_ miss someone. But it didn't catch her off guard because the hole in her heart was always there, always reminding her of what she lost. 

"You can talk about it, with me, if you want," she shyly offered, her famous crinkle making its appearance, betraying her anxiousness. 

Alex gave her a weak smile, looking at her for a moment before looking away. She laughed self-deprecatingly, rubbing her forehead as she tried to get herself together. "I don't want to bother you with my boring life."

Supergirl slowly approached, still hesitant near Alex as they weren’t that close. "It's no bother," she promised. "If you want to talk then I want to listen," she said honestly as she kept walking closer.

Alex shot her a confused expression. "Why ?"

She seemed surprised at the question, her steps faltering, before resuming her walk and standing next to Alex. "Can I ?" she asked, motioning to the platform where Alex were seated. The brunette nodded wordlessly, watching closely as Kara floated a little to sit, leaving a small gap between them. Kara breathed deeply a few times, trying to find the words and Alex let her, knowing her enough to give her time. "I don't have many friends," she began, looking straight ahead. "I can't really let anyone get close to me because of, _you know,"_  she half smirked as she gestured at herself and her outfit, Alex nodding, focused on every word she said. "I'm not— I'm not _good_ at making friends from the start, but my origin definitely doesn't help."

Alex frowned. "You can't let how people see aliens dictate how you live."

Supergirl smiled at her, a gentle, almost _loving_ smile, and resumed her story. "Yeah... But it does though. I can't risk exposing my family, or even myself to people anti aliens. I just can't. But here, it's different. Sure, some agents are here to put aliens in a cell and never let them out, but some agents..." She quickly glanced towards Alex before settling her eyes on her wringing fingers. "Some agents are here to _help_ aliens, protect them..." she trailed. "That's why," she shrugged, avoiding Alex's eyes. 

Alex was so lost in Kara— _Supergirl's_ expressions, rediscovering them, that she didn't notice immediately that she stopped speaking. She came back to Earth, taking in Supergirl's pink cheeks and all of her nervous ticks she could still recognize, relaxing at the familiar sight. "Why what ?"

Supergirl tried to hide a smile, looking at Alex sideways. "You asked me why I wanted to listen. That's why," she repeated. "You're one of the agents that want to help aliens. But there's more to you, I can see it," she added, looking intensely into Alex's eyes.

Alex blinked, returning to the present. "Oh."

The blonde chuckled, brushing her hair behind her ear. "Yeah," she murmured.

"Well," Alex licked her lips, mouth suddenly dry. She didn't know Supergirl noticed her that much. They weren't really close, that was why she was surprised when Supergirl called her friend. "I, um, thanks." _Smooth._ "I didn't know you paid much attention to agents here."

Supergirl met Alex's eyes, staring, lost in the dark brown eyes which were somehow light at some places. "Not every agent," she whispered, still staring at Alex.

Alex, that apparently lost any ability to process, breathe or even just  _think._  Alex, that just stared back at Supergirl, into those big, endless blue eyes where she could drown if she watched too long. But she didn't care, she didn't want to stop looking. So she didn't. 

Supergirl was leaning more and more towards Alex who was frozen in her spot, watching the scene as if she was a third party and not part of it.  
She felt Supergirl slide her hand so it was next to her thigh, but the feeling was numb, like she was too cold to feel anything fully.

She blinked back to reality when her phone ringed, Supergirl leaning back rapidly, so rapidly that she somehow managed to roll off the platform and fall. Well, she did catch herself by floating, avoiding quite a humiliation. In less than a second she was up, looking Alex with wide eyes, face flushed. She took a step back, still staring at Alex, then another, and mumbled some sort of apology before storming off the room, leaving Alex confused and with messy hair because of the gust of wind.

She kept blinking, unmoving, trying to process what just happened, what _nearly_ happened. "Um..."

Her phone kept ringing but she just flopped backwards, falling on her back with a _hump,_ covering her face with her arm. She had so many questions. 

What was the tension she felt ? What was Supergirl going to do if her phone hadn't rang ? Would Alex have let her ?  
Which made her wonder, was it like this with Kara ? Did she just not realize it ?  
And what was she going to do now, with this new perspective of their relationship ?

Well, she knew what she _had_ to do if she didn't want to trigger Kara's old memories, but at the same time... How could that happen if their relationship was so different that the one she had with Kara _before_ ? How could new feelings and new experiences trigger Kara's old memories ?

She was so confused, even more so when she seemed to just _accept_ these new feelings, not even shocked. She was surprised but nothing more. No existential crisis, no questions about her sexuality nor about the appropriateness of the situation. It somehow felt... _natural._

Maybe that was how she made Kara happy in this new life, how she stayed close to her without being her family from the beginning. She once became her family, she could do it again, whatever the way.

She let out a long sigh, her head throbbing with all this new information, all the possibilities it opened and her not so new feelings.

She still felt sad Kara decided to wipe her own memory after life became too much, after she realized she wasn't going to get better, no matter how hard she tried. And boy did she try, all her life she tried. Opening up to people, taking the risk to get hurt after all the hurt she already experienced, all the loss.  
She knew everything she's been through, knew all the pain, share most of it with her.  
So for Kara to choose not remembering her over remembering her pain clearly hurt. How could she leave her alone like that, alone with both of their pain when she only survived because she could share with Kara ? She felt deeply betrayed.

But as time passed, as she saw Kara becoming a little sunnier without her fake mask on, she felt like she finally accepted it. She understood from the start, gave Kara all of her support through the procedure, but didn't fully accept it.   
But once she saw Kara becoming _really_ happy, without all the scars she hid, she felt like she could breathe again, like she could let her bitterness go.

This Kara had both of her parents alive on Krypton, didn't lose her planet, her friends and teachers, her culture and future. She didn't lose her normalcy because she came to Earth willingly. She wasn't able to contact them, but that was okay because she came here by choice, promising to return once she knew she had nothing more to offer to Earth. 

She lived in Metropolis with Kal-El, raising him quite easily all the while going to college and working for Perry White. She didn't know the Danvers, didn't know Eliza, didn't know Jeremiah gave his freedom so Kara could have hers.

It hadn't been an easy thing, altering her memories this far, this deeply.  
They took months to finally find the right approach, and Kara still wanted to go through with it. She had to violently blow her powers out, leaving her weaker than a human, and she still wanted to go through with it. They had to ask J'onn to read her mind, read her darker secrets and desires, read intimate memories of her family she didn't even share with Alex; had to ask J'onn to lose a little piece of himself while doing so, and she still wanted to go through with it.

She was nothing if not determined. After all the sacrifices, from her or others, it required, she _still_ wanted to go through with it.

Even if she tried to hide it, she felt oh so guilty, so selfish. Leaving everyone with the memory of her, their moments spent together, and her remembering nothing, acting like they didn't even know each other; they knew her,  _she_ didn't.  
It was a new kind of torture for her friends, her family. _Alex._  
But her doing it anyway showed that she couldn't take it anymore, couldn't pretend she wasn't miserable. Showed that she was willing to put her happiness before others', showed that she felt like she didn't have any other choice. 

So Alex fully supported her, spent all of her time with her, even taking a leave of absence from the DEO to make the most of the little time they had.  
Spent every night at Kara's, ordering all of her favorite food, watching the Wizard of Oz over and over again. They watched new TV shows too, wanting to experience new things before... Before.   
Talking about new experiences, they decided to take a trip together. Since the DEO and since Supergirl, they hadn't had the chance to go away and just enjoy their vacation.  
Kara knew Alex wanted to go skydiving, the experience different when she had to do it at the DEO because of the lack of deathly threat and all that. So they went. Kara told the instructor she had done it before so she could be paired with Alex, always staying close to her, bodies flushed as they fell into the open sky.

They also talked, _a lot,_ so they could part ways without regret, without animosity between them. They laid everything on the table, telling each other everything they could think of. Or almost everything. They both kept a secret, a part buried deep never to see the light.  
They were saying goodbye to their sister, their confidant, their best friend... Their everything. 

Kara was apologizing all the time until Alex threatened her to stop coming to her place, and Kara looked horrified but she agreed. She still had times where she apologized, but one look from Alex made her stop and hug her instead. Alex thought it was better than any apology. 

Kara still spent some of her time with James and Winn, J'onn too. She put off seeing Eliza though, feeling almost as guilty she felt about Alex because she welcomed her into her house, paid for every repairs needed when Kara broke something. She lost her husband for her. She lost her daughter to the DEO for her. Kara took a lot of things from Eliza, and she didn't know how to face her.

She still took her courage in both hands, well, _four_ hands as Alex came with her, never leaving her alone too long.

Eliza took the news quite badly, not because she was mad at Kara but because she was mad at herself, not having been able to help her better than this.  
After a long talk that lasted well into the night, they all fell asleep together on the couch, Kara's head on Eliza's shoulder and Alex sprawled over the both of them, holding tightly Kara's hand.

They got home at the end of the weekend and didn't let each other go until it was time to go shower, and after they hugged again.

Kara's friends wanted to see her all the time, wanted to make most of it before she left, but Kara was very clear. 90% of her time was for Alex, the rest was for everyone and everything else.  
She also took time off from CatCo, James being in the known, to enjoy every minute of it. She knew she was going to miss it, miss everyone, but it wouldn't last once J'onn worked his magic. 

When the time came, she said her goodbyes to everybody, leaving them behind as she walked in the room where it would happen.  
She left everyone behind, everyone but one. Alex. Alex was always the exception, and she was there as she has been all of her life; next to her.

So Alex held her hand until the end, until the Kara she knew disappeared and let place to a blank state.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Alex didn't realize she was crying again until she felt her arm wet. She inhaled sharply, as if it hurt to breathe and only forced herself to stay alive.   
She missed her Kara, she couldn't deny it. 

But she loved seeing her from a new light: true happiness. 

Alex had known Kara for more than half of her age, and she never saw her this open, this free. This happy.  
So she knew it was worth it, all the heartache and all the sleepless nights, it was all worth it if Kara could be happy.

She put the palm of her hands against her eyes, trying to stop the tears from overflowing, pushed a little from anger when they didn't.  
She had to toughen up, had to stop grieving Kara because it has been almost 6 months now.

6 months since Supergirl replaced Kara, since Supergirl first saw Alex.  
And from then, Supergirl found time to talk to her, somehow picking her out of all the other agents.

Alex was suspicious at first, dropping veiled hints to see how Kara would react when Alex talked about her, to see if Kara somehow remembered but pretended not to.  
But she was wrong, Supergirl was just looking for a friend and, for some unthinkable reason, she thought _Alex_ seemed approachable and friendly. Alex just went with it, not being able to refuse her even if she wanted to, even if she kinda had to.

"Hey." The low voice scared her half to death.

She sat up to glare at the person who dared disturb her during her  _moment._

Winn had the decency to look sheepish, an apologetic smile to go with his lowered head to complete the look. She still glared at him though.

"What do you want ?" She wanted to snap, but her rough voice made it clear she had been crying.

Never looking away, he shrugged one shoulder. "I wanted to see how you were doing. I saw Kara leaving in a hurry from here, so I thought..." he trailed off, shrugging again, not really knowing how to cheer someone up.

People still called her Kara when she wasn't there, but Alex was more careful. Careful because she wasn't supposed to know her name even though it would be easily explainable with her being high rank in the DEO. Also careful for her own heart, trying to separate Kara that wasn't _her_ Kara anymore, from Supergirl who took her place.

She inhaled deeply, looking at her hands for a moment. "I'm okay, mostly. I'm just trying to get over her, I guess. Supergirl's not Kara, you know that right ?" They had this conversation many times, Winn always saying he knew, though deep down he must not because of how he looked at her or spoke to her. Seeing him frown, she sighed. "Yeah, I know. You're aware, you were there, blah-blah... Still. Knowing and realizing it are two different things."

He looked hurt, like Alex was saying things like this on purpose to cause him emotional pain as opposed to help him realize so he wouldn't hurt so much anymore. They all hurt.

"It's okay," she smiled. "It takes time, I know. I only recently accepted her decision, so I'm in no place to judge," she said, smile gone.

"Yeah," he murmured, looking at his shoes with a forlorn expression. After a moment, he looked at her. "So, what happened ? What did she want ?"

"What ? How— why do you assume she wanted something ?" she asked, a little panicked. She still wasn't ready to share any of her revelations with anyone but Kara, so that meant no one.

Winn squinted at her, suspicious. "Well, she _followed_ you here," he said with an eyebrow raised, challenging her to refute this fact.

"Oh, um, she wanted to see how I was doing," she explained honestly. Winn raised his eyebrows in silent question. She sighed. "I was a little hangover earlier, and she saw I wasn't feeling well."

"Oh," he seemed surprised by the explanation, leaning on his heels. "Well, it does seem like her," he finally said, nodding as if it made sense.

Alex rolled her eyes and huffed as she got up, dusting her pants off from dust. "It doesn't because it isn't. She didn't have the same upbringing as Kara, Winn. She's not—" Her throat suddenly felt too tight to talk, so she shook her head as if she was tired to explain the situation to him. She walked towards the exit and stopped next to a sad Winn, frowning at his feet as if they had insulted him. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for checking up on me," she murmured before leaving to his thoughts. She had enough on her own.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next few days went by so quickly Alex actually didn't have time to be sad for the first time in 6 months, or to be confused about her relationship with Supergirl.

A new threat arrived in National City, or rather new threats. It was a group of aliens keen on destroying anything and anyone on their path called Vrunphals.  
They weren't always together though, so if the DEO caught one, others were terrorizing the city somewhere else.  
Alex couldn't take it anymore, it was so frustrating to be treated like puppets by those bad aliens, always toying with the agent when she thought she had them.

They didn't seem to mind being captured, knowing their little friends would keep destroying and harming was enough for them to be at peace with their punishment.   
Their superpower, it seemed, on top of super-strength, was their talent to annoy anyone who made the mistake to talk to them. Or just listen to them. Or breathe the same air as them.  
Summoning all of the serenity that was left in her, Alex calmly walked in the room where the Vrunphals were kept in separate cells and stopped in the middle. She looked at them closely, studying them and choosing the antsier one.

She smirked as she walked closer to him, taking in his appearance. They were far from looking human, maybe a reason for their anger, looking more like Stitch but without the blue. No, their color was more reddish, with beautiful brownish highlights covering all of their body.  
Their eyes being on the side of their heads helped them see in front and behind them. Well, left and right, but semantics. 

"So," she began with a dangerous look. "You've been busting our balls and it's getting rather annoying. What do you want ? Surely you have a motive. _Surely_ you're not some brainless aliens focused on 'breaking, breaking'," she said, her voice getting lower to imitate and mostly irritate them, trying to get something out of those badly dressed aliens.

The Vrunphal exhaled sharply, obviously displeased by her little show, putting his tiny fits on his large hips. Honestly, it was a wonder they could destroy so much with so little arms. Alex compared them to a T-Rex, their body tall and large, but their arms made them look quite ridiculous, so much so that Alex could only be annoyed and not truly enraged. It was like when her neighbors’ little boy decided it was a good decision to start stomping all the time. It infuriated her, but she couldn't be really mad at him because he was so small and looked kinda ridiculous. He was a child after all, how smart could those things be ?

"You should not talk to me that way, human," he snarled, turning slightly his head so his eyes could face her instead.

"Oh no ?" she asked with a hand on her hip, standing tall and confidant. "And why is that ? What are you going to do ? Glare at me ?" she mocked. She was enjoying the clear power imbalance, not caring about the ethics. It wasn't the time to wonder about what was right and what wasn't. Right now was the time to understand them and stop them from destroying millions worth of propriety and from harming people.

He hit his fist on the glass, losing his calm. "You will not talk to me that way, Human," he commended this time.

Alex snorted, looking at him condescendingly, eyebrow raised. "Yeah, you said that already."

He closed his eyes, trying to regain some of his past composure and sighed with his head on the glass. "I cannot do anything from within this prison, Human. I cannot help my friends or join them." Alex crossed her arms, still looking down on him but letting him talk. "The only way I can help them is tell you what we have been seeking," he said as he slowly opened his eyes, looking into Alex's eyes.

"Go on," she gestured with her hand, waiting patiently for the information.

J'onn had done well choosing her to interrogate them, she always picked the weakest link, or broke the strongest. What could she say, she had a way with criminals.

He watched for a moment, internally deliberating on whether he should tell her or not. With a resigned sigh, he began talking. "We were stranded on this foreign planet looking for someone. Our sources told us that person came here and sent us here without a way back. We did find that someone and did what he had to do," he explained darkly with a grim expression. "Now we are trapped here, trying to get the attention of our allies. It was said that destruction and death was the way back to our people."

Alex was looking at him, surprised but without showing it, her stoic mask carefully in place as she raged inside. She couldn't even say she didn't understand, the desire to go back to your people not matter the cost. She would do anything to find Kara, including—  

"What's happening here ?" a loud voice echoed in the room.

Alex turned quickly, her back now to the criminal, her expression still impassible. Until she saw who walked in, that is.   
Supergirl was walking towards her, determined, looking like she was going to use her heat vision to do the unthinkable.

Once Alex cleared her head, compartmentalizing easily after her thorough training, she frowned, confused. "What are you doing here ?"

Still walking with purpose, Supergirl's face a mask of fury and something else Alex couldn't identify, and she glared at Alex. "What are _you_ doing here ?" she asked back.

She stopped once in front of Alex, fists balled at her side, slightly shaking. Alex was taken aback at Supergirl's reaction, her expression she so rarely seen on Kara, surprised at the whole situation. "What— I'm interrogating criminals, that's my job. So I'm asking again, what are you doing here ?" she repeated. 

Supergirl scowled even harder if it was possible, her crinkle getting lost in a sea of wrinkles due to her anger. "I'm here because you shouldn't be," she let out through gritted teeth, arms rigid by her side. "Do you know what they are ?" she pointed accusingly towards the responsible. 

Alex had her mouth a little agape, but it wasn't her fault. Supergirl was being so confusing ! "Yes, I do." Supergirl threw her arms in the air, letting them fall against her sides with a loud crash, her super-strength and invulnerability clashing loudly. She huffed in disbelief, looking at Alex like she had grown another head in the last minute. "What's your problem ?" snapped Alex, getting tired being yelled at with no reason.

"What's my— my _problem_ is that you're alone in a room with three Vrunphals with no escort or backup !" she shouted like the answer was obvious. "My _problem,"_ she continued, apparently on a roll, "is that you have no idea what they're capable of. What they're doing in the city ? That's nothing ! They took over planets Alex, _planets,"_ she said breathlessly, her rant actually tiring her.

Alex was looking at her with wide eyes, both because she was shocked Supergirl reacted like that  _and_ because she didn't know Vrunphals were this dangerous. She didn't say anything for a few seconds, just digesting this new information and also, you know, seeing Supergirl for the first time since they almost—

The pounding of a fist against the glass made her jump while Supergirl just reluctantly took her eyes off Alex and instead glared at the offensive alien behind Alex. 

"What do you want ?" she asked with a controlled voice, anger still perceptible, watching him over Alex's shoulder.

"I want to be listened to," he said through gritted teeth. "I was talking before you so rudely interrupted."

Alex glanced carefully at Supergirl who had her jaw tightly clenched and was slowly walking closer to him, stopping once slightly in front of Alex in a defensive gesture. 

"You have no right, you have no power here. Who do you think you are ? You are in a cell, trapped and unable to do  _anything_ because of your stupidity. So I'd advise you to _keep your mouth shut,"_ she threatened dangerously and though she kept a steady voice, Alex could still her the tremors from the anger.

The alien was looking at her with pursed lips, surely biting his lips to stop himself from talking back and risk irritating Supergirl further, his tiny hands clenched into tiny fists. She then turned around, directly facing Alex and grabbed her hand, tugging her towards the exit. 

"K— Supergirl, wait, wha— _stop,"_ she tried to tell Supergirl while she stumbled to follow her, Supergirl looking straight ahead while walking with determination. Feeling Supergirl wasn't going to slow down until they were far from the Vrunphals, she wordlessly followed her while she was internally fuming, knowing she'll give a piece of her mind once outside. 

As expected, as soon as they exited the room Supergirl freed her hand which Alex missed immediately but quickly pushed the feeling out of her mind. This time, Alex grabbed Supergirl's wrist, not wanting to have her hand in hers and risk having her mind blank at the warm feeling. "Wha—"

She felt a little resistance, most likely because Supergirl was taken by surprise and didn't yet made her body soft enough to be moved by a human. But it only lasted less than a second, the tall alien immediately making her body pliable and let herself be dragged around by Alex, neither of them caring about the looks they were getting by the other agents.   
Alex found a room rarely used because of its small size and walked in with Supergirl behind her, almost pushing her inside, closing the door behind them. 

Supergirl crossed her arms as soon as her wrist was released and stood in the far corner while Alex paced, trying to calm down enough not to explode in Supergirl's face. She wouldn't deserve it, she only tried to protect her in her own way, though it was a little over the top for the situation.  

"You—" she began, passing her hand through her short hair in frustration. "You can't do this ! I can take care of myself, I was an agent long before you began saving people !"

"That's not a reason to risk getting hurt," the blonde hotly protested. "You have to make smarter choices."

Alex stopped pacing and a scoff escaped her in surprise. " _Smarter choices ?_ You want to talk about smarter choices ?" She took a deep breath as she turned her back to Supergirl, trying to forget for a moment Kara _chose_ to become Supergirl and leave Alex behind with her other memories. She took another shaky breath and faced her again, more vulnerable than a minute ago. "You came in during an interrogation, a quite vital one at that given that people's lives are in danger, and undermined me in front of the culprit, making me look like a— like _I_ don't have any power here."

Supergirl frowned, looking like she didn't think about it and felt guilty now. "I—"

"I'm not finished," interrupted harshly Alex and Supergirl closed audibly her mouth, mouth in a thin line. Alex nodded, satisfied of the respect Supergirl was showing by letting her speak when she just kidnapped her into a confined room. "You can't do that here, this is my place of work," she continued, a little softer but still serious enough to make Supergirl listen to every word. "And I had him, he was going to tell me everything. Well, he started to, but you stormed in." Supergirl slumped slightly at the accusation but accepted it. "Look, I'm not saying you're wrong and that they're not dangerous, because they obviously are, but... You have to remain calm, ask me to talk to me or something."

Supergirl nodded while looking at the floor, no longer crossing her arms in a defensive gesture but letting them limp at her sides in a conceding one. She was biting her lower lip like she was going to cry and Alex just waited for her to talk.

"I'm sorry," she murmured finally, playing with the edges of her cape anxiously. "I just— when J'onn told me you were alone with three highly dangerous aliens I— I didn't think, I just came, I'm sorry," she apologized sheepishly, still looking down.

Alex sighed. "It's— It's okay, really. Just— don't it again, try to take deep breaths like I do when I'm stressed."

Supergirl glanced at Alex, trying to determine if she just said that or if she meant it. "Is it ?" she asked hesitantly. Seeing Alex's confused look, she clarified. " _Okay_ , I mean. You seemed really mad, and now..." she trailed off, not sure how to explain.

Alex tilted her head a little, smiling softly. "Of course it is. Because it's you, I know you didn't mean anything bad, you were just..." _Protective_ her mind supplied, but she internally refuted it, she wasn't Kara anymore, wasn't protective anymore. 

"Protective," shrugged timidly Supergirl.

Alex's head snapped up, looking at Supergirl with wide eyes. Did she just say that out loud ? "What ?"

She looked away, embarrassed. "Protective," she repeated. "Of you. Because, you know," she shrugged again, face now red from embarrassment.

Surprised wasn't even close to what Alex was feeling at this moment, still staring at who used to be her sister. "I... know what ?" she asked dumbly. 

"That's—" She shook her head and let out a breathless chuckle. "You know, you don't have to make me say it," she whispered.

"I don't... I'm not sure," she tried to say a full sentence but failed due to the nerves. She felt her heart in her ears, not knowing what to do if it was a repeat performance from last time.

Rubbing her most likely sweaty palms against her suit, she chanced a look at Alex, trying to see if she was serious or if she was messing with her because she didn't felt the same. Alex's face was a bit comical if you didn't know the context, mouth agape and eyes wide but Supergirl knew she was being honest; so she decided to do the same.

"I told you last time," she tried. If she could avoid saying it she would, and she tried to make Alex understand, though she wasn't sure how Alex took what happened last time they saw each other. 

"Last ti— _Oh,"_ she breathed, realization downing on her. "Oh so, that— you were— you were serious," she stammered.

Supergirl recoiled slightly, hurt written all over her face. "Of course I was. What, do you think I go around to every agent and try to—" She quickly closed her mouth, not wanting to say anything more and embarrass herself further.

"No, no," Alex frowned and took a step forward, wanting to comfort her, but stopped when she saw her stiffen. She raised her hands in a placating gesture with an open expression, trying to express her earnestness. "I just— I don't know why  _me,"_ she explains with a soft look. "We don't know each other that well and I'm not exactly the most approachable person here, or the nicest one."

Supergirl's muscles relaxed at Alex's honesty and she almost reached out to her but kept her hands clasped to prevent a mistake. "It's not about the exterior Alex, not about how you try to distance yourself from people. I see how you are with people, Humans or Aliens. You're a good person, and for some reason you're watching over me from a distance, trying to keep me safe. I know it's your job, but you seem to care more than the others. I don't know..."

Alex silently chastised herself for the slip up. She thought she was subtle but apparently not and she could only be mad at herself. She knew Kara but she should have thought about Supergirl, not Kara. Kara wouldn't have noticed because she had blind trust in Alex, whereas Supergirl didn't know her enough to trust her fully and still kept an eye on all the agents.

She didn't know what to say and put her hands on her hips as she blew a big breath. "That's a lot," she finally said. Supergirl sadly looked away and Alex knew she said the wrong thing. "It's not a bad thing," she quickly amended, taking a step forward and smiled when Supergirl didn't take one backwards. She slowly reached out, leaving Supergirl time to move away, and when she didn't she took her hand in hers. "I'm not— That's not my strong suit, feelings and honesty and all that," she explained with a hesitant smile.

Supergirl gave her a dazzling smile, happy to have things finally out in the open. "That's okay," she said gently. "I'm—" She suddenly stopped, head tilting on the side like she used to do when she listened to something else.

"What is it ?" Alex asked quietly, not wanting to disturb her.

Look returning on Alex, she gave her a grimace. "J'onn is asking for you."

Alex pursed her lips, knowing Supergirl was sugarcoating it for her. "Sure," she drawled, eyes squinted in suspicion. "He's not yelling or angry at me for disappearing from an important interrogation several agents tried but failed to conduct before," she deadpanned, teasing.

Supergirl looked at her with a nervous smile, shrugging one shoulder in admission. "Maybe ?"

Alex chuckled while shaking her head, thinking Supergirl wasn't _too_ far from how Kara used to be. "Come on," she said while gently tugging Kara's hand this time. It was the same gesture she used to drag her inside to yell at her but it held a different meaning now. "I need you to lead the interrogation this time," she mysteriously said with a smirk, leaving their conversation to later.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Once again in front of the room that held the Vrunphals, they stopped so Alex could explain because Supergirl was confused as to why she needed to lead the interrogation. She's never done it, didn't know what to do and what to ask.

"I know you never did, but I need you to now. And you kinda brought it upon yourself," she said with a raised eyebrow. When she saw her puzzled look, Alex kept explaining. "You undermined me in front of them, they'll never take me seriously now. Plus, I think they'll respect more someone who's not human, and you showed some anger and power earlier, so you'll have to do."

Supergirl nodded seriously, focused on the instructions. "Okay, I'll try. What do I have to do ?"

"Well, we're gonna play good cop bad cop. I know I intimidated him earlier, but if you come and scare him more, he might tell you out of fear. Or tell me so you won't hurt him." She shrugged, glancing towards the door. "He's proud though, but I know that your people are too, maybe he'll relax in your presence. Either way, you have more chance to make him talk now."

Supergirl nodded again, trying to think about how to do that. "I don't think I'll be able to be angry again though, I won't be convincing."

"Well, just use your imagination then. Think about a situation or something that makes you mad and direct this anger on him. It'll work, I trust you."

Hearing the words she needed to hear, she smiled and squeezed gently Alex's arm. Seeing Alex quickly look at her hand on her arm she let go. "Could we—" She looked around to see if they were alone. "Could we talk ? Later ? I— We didn't really finish talking about..." She looked away, cheeks pink as she replayed their discussion  in her head and the openness on Alex's face.

Heart racing, Alex's brain went into overdrive. She didn't think their conversation would touch the subject about their last encounter so she had to be brave and face it, but now she had a choice. But she also remembered how she reacted when Supergirl told her she was serious, and what she thought when she almost... It didn't bother her. And Supergirl wasn't her sister anymore.

"Sure," she whispered, fear and excitement audible in the tremors of her voice.

Supergirl smiled shyly, happy that Alex wasn't pushing her away now like she had feared. "Okay," she murmured. She squared her shoulders and faced the doors, closing her eyes. She tried to think about a situation that could make her angry, but she had a hard time coming up with something as she had quite the easy life. But she didn't need to go back far to find an appropriate one, she just had to think about Alex alone with these goons,  _dangerous_ goons. She clenched her jaw, anger returning slowly but surely. "Let's do this," she said firmly. 

Alex smirked at her sudden change, proud of her. She briefly wondered what she had to think about to make her look this determined but moved on from the thought, she also had a role to play. Straightening up, she opened the door with Supergirl hot on her heels, face impassible. 

She walked up to the Vrunphal she talked to, stopping when her nose almost touched the glass, arms crossed. "So, where were we ?"

He looked hesitant, glancing between her and the superhero behind her. "I don't trust her," he whispered, hoping to be heard only by Alex.

"Super-hearing buddy, it's not going to be a two persons conversation, so I suggest you get comfortable with me in the background," warned Supergirl loudly, intent on being heard and feared. It worked. 

"You heard her," she said as she motioned to Supergirl with her head, eyes never leaving the Alien. "So. Talk. And believe me, you'll prefer talking to me."

He audibly gulped, making Alex feel really satisfied. "I—" He glanced again at Supergirl before eyes settling on Alex, determined. "Okay, I'll talk. All we want is to get our people's attention, but they must have stopped looking for us years ago, we are just getting desperate after all this time. If you help us contact them, we'll just leave and never come back, believe me."

"How do we know you're not lying ?" asked Supergirl, walking closer. "You took over planets before, inhabited planets. You lived here for years, most likely gathering information about the population and Earth. Are we just supposed to trust your words ?"

Alex frowned, not having thought about that. If they sent them back to their people, it's true they risked them coming back with more people and colonize Earth.

"I don't know what you want me to do," he said. "I'm not even our leader here, let alone of all of our people."

"As Agent Danvers reminded me, you are proud people. You value promises, even if we can't believe them coming from you. If we can contact your people, we'll ask it of them. An oath to leave us alone in exchange for you release  _and_ our help. It only seems fair." Supergirl was every bit of a leader that she could be and Alex's heart swelled with pride. 

"It is a just compromise, Miss..." he trailed off in question.

Supergirl froze for a couple of seconds, unsure. Finally, she straightened and tilted her chin up. "Zor-El," she declared proudly. 

Alex thought there would be no reaction, but she immediately saw recognition in his eyes. He quickly bowed slightly his head in respect before looking up to stare at Supergirl with wide eyes. "It is an honor to meet you, Miss Zor-El. We had no idea this was your home," he said as he bowed his head again, most likely in apologies. 

Her stance faltered when he recognized her name and even more when he bowed, the gesture unfamiliar since Krypton. "You know me ?" she asked in a shaky voice. Alex closed the distance between them so their shoulders were touching, giving her silent support.

"Of course, we know of your House. I don't think I know who you are unfortunately."

She licked her lips, mouth suddenly dry and cleared her throat as emotions got in the way. "Kara."

His eyebrows shot up. "The daughter of Alura and Zor-El," he murmured in disbelief.

Alex glanced at her, expecting to see grief and sadness, but only saw pride and a pleased expression. It took her several beats before remembering Supergirl's parents weren't dead and still lived on Krypton with everyone she ever knew. Her heart suddenly tightened, not sure this was the best decision. It was cruel to let her think Krypton was still here and her people alive, it was a dishonor.  
Kal-El still avoided Kara because she would talk about home and he wouldn't know what she was talking about, or she would speak Kryptonian and he wouldn't understand and have a terrible accent. It was really risky for her to be with him, and he knew that so he kept his distance. 

She held in a gasp when she suddenly realized it was a very dangerous situation. The alien didn't know Supergirl thought her parents were alive and he knew them. She had to quickly change the subject.

"She is," Alex spoke up. "You understand her position then, both here and on Krypton. You can trust her, her family history is proof of that, as well as her people's faith in promises and oaths."

She chose her words carefully but was still very tense in case she slipped. She may have snapped during the silence that followed if it weren't suddenly broken by the criminal's voice. 

"Very well. I shall trust your words, Kara Zor-El," he said as he bowed in a sign of agreement. 

Alex let out a quiet exhale, relieved they succeeded in making the alien accept their terms while keeping up the lie. Supergirl, next to her, stood even taller, proud.

"Thank you," bowed Supergirl, internally pleased but not showing it.

"Alright, so we'll go to my superior and take care of it. You're staying here in the meantime, though," stated Alex.

At Alex's nod, they both turned around and exited the room, leaving the Vrunphals behind. As soon as the doors closed, Supergirl let out something between a shriek and a squeal, making it hard not to flinch.  
At Alex's grimace, Supergirl slapped both of her hands over her mouth with wide eyes.

"Sorry," she apologized, voice muffled under her hands. Her embarrassment didn't last though, and soon she wore the biggest smile Alex ever saw, cheeks pink and eyes glinting with joy. 

Alex smiled softly, heart full of love. "You parents would be proud," she said warmly, just like she did every time Kara did something she thought her parents would be proud of. 

Grinning widely, Supergirl giggled. "I can't wait to tell them !"

It was like a stone dropped inside her stomach, making it hard to stand upright while looking at her. "Ye— Yeah," she choked out, voice raspy with nerves and guilt.

Supergirl's happiness faded when she saw Alex's conflicted expression after hearing her heart skip a bit. "What it is ? Did I mess up ?" She started to panic, not used to conduct interrogations or playing tough. "Did I— I did, didn't I ? Of course I did, Alex I'm so sorry, I can—"

"You didn't," said assuredly the Agent, hand on Supergirl's forearm in a reassuring gesture. "You didn't. It's just— I have a lot to do, taking this to J'onn and make it happen before their little friends destroy even more the city, or harm more people."

Supergirl seemed to relax at Alex's explanation before fidgeting, clear sign of nervousness. "Oh, then that's good." At Alex's eyebrow raise, she quickly followed up. "Not good that you have a lot to do ! Though it's good that you have what you wanted, good— a good thing, yes," she rambled while chuckling awkwardly. 

Alex laughed a little, loving when Kara— Supergirl rambled. "Relax."

Supergirl stopped moving, freezing under Alex's command before following it, slowly calming down. "Sorry, I'm—" She sighed, looking quickly around before looking at Alex again. "I was worried you were regretting your deci— well, not decision because you didn't make any, just— you know, like—" she sputtered, face going pink. A look at Alex told her she wasn't being made fun of, nor was she being annoying. She was being listened to, Alex's face serious and focused on her, making her breathe normally so she could finally line up two coherent words. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, and if you don't want to talk, or continue to talk about what we talked about earlier then it's fine. We don't have to talk at all." Her face got redder by the second. "I don't mean anything by it ! Not like we should do something that would require to not having to talk, I would never— I mean, maybe—" She scrunched her eyes shut, stopping breathing for a beat. 

Alex wasn't faring any better, her face matching Supergirl's, but she understood the gist of her speech enough to answer. When she could find an opening to actually reply as Supergirl wouldn't stop talking. She called her name a couple of times but she just couldn't stop rambling on and making the situation worse by making more and more accidental innuendos.

"Supergirl !" she shouted while gripping her shoulders because she apparently shut her hearing off.

She seemed to startle out of her tornado of embarrassment, blinking a few times until her face heat up even more. "Oh my god Alex, I'm—"

"If you apologize one more time, we won't get coffee together," she warned. 

Supergirl's opened mouth, which didn't produce a sound since she was interrupted, morphed into a grin which turned into a wide smile once she got Alex's not so hidden meaning. "Like a date ?" she asked hopefully, face less red but still pink.

"Well, like a— a friend date ? To start, maybe ?" She tried to make her understand she wasn't opposed to the idea, just not ready to go all in for now.

Eyes bright with joy, Supergirl quickly nodded, grinning all the while. "Sure, that's— sounds good ! Great !"

"Good, great," teased Alex with a grin of her own.

"If you're quite finished, I'd like to talk to you, Agent Danvers."

The loud and annoyed voice of her Director made Alex straighten in place while it made Supergirl actually jump, surprised by the interruption. Alex closed her eyes for a second, knowing what was coming. "Yes, Sir."

She gave Supergirl an apologetic glance before following J'onn into his office.

 

 

* * *

  

 

"What are you _doing_?" he shouted, free to do so with his hearing dampener on. Alex just stood there, eyes closed in front of his desk, while he was seated behind it, looking furious. She just listened to him, waiting for him to finish yelling at her. "Are you trying to make her remember ? Is this what this is about ? Because if it is, you're on the right path, Agent." Him calling her _Agent_ was a bad sign, sign that he tried to remain in their professional relationship zone so he wouldn't feel guilty for telling her off. So he could go all out. "Do you want her to remember and feel the loss of her lost ones all over again ? She made a decision, Agent Danvers, a decision taken seriously and under no pressure whatsoever. So please, explain to me how your developing relationship with _Supergirl_ is a good decision, because I fail to understand."

After a couple of quiet seconds, it was Alex's cue to start talking; to explain herself. Except that she didn't know what to say because she had no excuse. It was utterly out of selfishness that she took what she had with Supergirl to the next level, out of loneliness and grief. 

"I don't know what you want me to say, J'onn," she sighed. " _She_ 's going after me,  _she_ wants to—" She shook her head, not wanting to explain what exactly was happening between them both. It was private, and even she wasn't totally sure what was happening. "It doesn't matter. You're right. But I can't watch her suffer, whatever the reason is. If the reason is me, then the answer is simple: I give her what she wants." J'onn watched her talk in silence, not interrupting while she made her case. "J'onn, I didn't let her wipe her memory out and forget about me out of the goodness of my heart. We both know I'm too selfish to do that. I only did that because I couldn't bear her to suffer while there was a solution, one she wanted. So I went along with it, but that didn't mean I'm actually fine with it. It's the same now, whether she remembers me or not, I'm always gonna watch out for her."

She knew she hid behind her sense of responsibility when her choices were driven from her heart.

J'onn stayed quiet for a long moment, making Alex squirm minutely.

"I understand. You seem to realize the consequences of you actions and are determined to keep going anyway, that's your choice. Your parents raised you well, and I trained you well. You can make your own decisions; I can only stand next to you if you wish me to."

He didn't show any emotion except from determination, but Alex knew him better than this. And seeing him, hearing him say that he was on her side even after what she did, what she was doing, made her eyes sting a little with gratefulness. 

She blinked a couple to times to get rid of her unshed tears, sniffing quietly. "J'onn... Thank you. I swear, I'm not doing this out of spite or— or for me even, I just want her to be happy, whatever the cost."

"I know," he softly said with an understanding look. "I know. And I am right here with you, you know that. I know that it's an impossible situation, but you're playing with the cards you are dealt and it is not easy. So I'm going to be by your side as long as you want me to, and even when you don't me to anymore."

"Thank you," she said again, this time not bothering to hide her tears. It has been excruciating to live with this during those past 6 months, alone and lost; and betrayed. Even if she didn't see it that way anymore, it hadn't been easy to go past this.

J'onn wordlessly stood up and closed the gap between them, swiftly taking her in his strong arms, giving her a sense of security and family. "It's okay," he soothed as he held her close, hand on the back of her head resting on his chest. Too tall to hide her face in his neck, she settled on putting her ear against his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat. 

She was so grateful to have him in her corner. She knew she wasn't alone in this, all of Kara's friends and even her own mom being in the same boat, but it didn't feel like it. They all more or less accepted it and tried to move on, as if they didn't just lose one of their closest friend. Because, for most of them, they would never see each other again. Winn, J'onn and Alex saw Kara at the DEO, but the others didn't know Supergirl so had no reason to see her. Maybe it helped them move on but it irked Alex that it was so easy for them to just forget her too, like they magically forgot that it was exactly what Kara did to them.

After a moment they pulled apart, Alex clearing her throat because of the awkwardness of the situation. Though they used to call him Space Dad with Kara, she was more guarded now that  _it_ happened, she put her walls back up now that Kara was gone.  
  
She still lowered them with certain people, like J'onn, but not fully, still protecting herself. Just in case.  
She kept them full up with her mom though. Even before all of this, she did so because of how her mother was with her; but now it was somehow worse. Eliza was worried about Alex, asking her all the time how she was feeling, but also asking her how she could allow something like that. As if Eliza didn't support Kara's decision too when she came with Alex to tell her.

So she did the only thing she knew how to do : isolate herself.  
The only reason she didn't stay alone all those years was Kara, as usual. It was always Kara who broke through Alex's shell, who broke down all of her walls; even the thickest ones. It was always Kara that could make Alex go out when all she wanted to do was drink until she blacked out, it was Kara that comforted Alex when the brunette had a really bad day in the field.

Kara was always there. Until she wasn't. So Alex didn't see why she had to endure the agony of being around people when she was broken inside, why she had to pretend like nothing changed when everything did. At least, everything changed for Alex because _her everything_ changed by taking a life-changing decision.

She still supported Kara's decision though, even if at first she was completely against it. Once J'onn worked his magic, well, _it's not magic Alex, it's mind altering powers,_ once she saw how free and happy Kara looked, she felt a weight just fly away from her heart. She was so worried it was the wrong decision, that she was letting the person she loved the most make the worst mistake of her life, but everything just went away and she instantly relaxed when she 'met' Supergirl for the first time.

She was just smiling, wandering the halls. Not because she had a good day or because she wanted to hide her bad ones, she smiled because she didn't have loss or past tragedies weighing her down.

So it was worth it. Worth the heartache, worth the sleepless nights and isolation. Worth the feeling of being abandoned and not good enough. She hadn't been enough to convince her to stay and it had hurt. But it was worth it.

After clearing her throat Alex straightened again, meaning business. "Sir, we made some progress with the Vrunphal."

And she went on explaining what happened and what the terms of their release were. They also agreed on how to work on contacting their people, wanting them gone as soon as possible. They would still arrest the ones terrorizing the city, but most of their resources would go to find a way to locate their home.

"That's some fine work, Agent," he congratulated her.

"It was mostly Supergirl, Sir."

He chuckled like he was expecting her to say that. "You made his resolve falter before she even came looking for you. Then you told her what to do like a real leader. Don't forget you avoided the alien exposing the truth about her planet. Don't deny yourself the small victories Alex, it's too important. You'll end up not celebrating the big ones either and it won't do you any good."

She was internally pleased but didn't let it show, her walls back up in place. "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."

She waited for him to dismiss her, back in professional mode and when he did she promptly left, relieved to be able to breathe again. Being around people turned out to be more a chore when she wasn't feeling well, and she currently wasn't. _Understatement of the century._

Once outside of his office, she made a beeline for the balcony because she needed some fresh air. She was walking fast, trying to make it obvious she wasn't available for anything non work related, but stopped when she heard a  _psst._  
She turned around, looking for who made this less than subtle sound, and her eyes found blue ones. Kara looked too shy to come talk to her for some reason and it made Alex feel normal, relaxing her after her much too serious conversation with J'onn.  
So she chuckled while rolling her eyes, made a gesture with her head to tell Supergirl to join her and resumed her walk toward the balcony.

Once outside, she took a deep breath as she waited for Supergirl. She didn't have to wait long as not a second later she felt a gush of wind and a presence next to her.  
She saw that Supergirl was keeping a distance between them, not letting their arms touch on the railing, most likely not wanting to push Alex further after her confession and Alex's acceptance of their _date-but-not-really-date._

She glanced over Supergirl who had her head down while she bit her lower lip. _Uh oh._ "What's wrong ?"

Supergirl didn't even react, most likely knowing Alex would see right through her, and just kept her head down for a beat before looking up. "Did J'onn yell at you because of me ?"

Alex blinked, surprised at Supergirl's question. It wasn't what she was expecting. "No, why ?"

"Because he seemed upset when he called you into his office." She still seemed worried even though Alex just told her the opposite.

Alex felt guilty because J'onn has been upset but with her own behavior, not Supergirl's, and now Supergirl was feeling guilty. It was so complicated. "No, I promise," she said as she put her hand on the hero's forearm in reassurance. "He was just grumpy, but when is he not ?" she joked, trying to lift the tension. "You don't have to worry, Supergirl."

It worked as Supergirl chuckled while shaking her head before her eyes fell on Alex's hand, still on her arm. As she was going to remove it, embarrassed, Supergirl put hers on top of it, squeezing gently. "Kara."

"What ?" Was Supergirl finally opening up to her after 6 months ?

"Kara," she repeated shyly. She looked down at their hands, playing absent-mindedly with Alex's fingers as she continued to talk. "I mean, you heard it when I told the Vrunphal, but I wanted to tell you myself." She looked into her eyes, steady. "My name is Kara Zor-El, nice to meet you."

She smiled as she extended the hand that was playing with Alex's fingers, waiting for Alex to shake it. Alex grinned widely, delighted that she was trusted with her real identity. "Nice to officially meet you," she said as she took her hand away from Kara's arm and shook her hand.

Kara seemed also pleased to finally tell her name to someone who she worked with, tired to always be called another name. It wasn't even another name or an alias, it was a nickname she didn't even choose. It was freeing to have someone she cared about know this.

If their handshake lasted longer than professionally appropriate, neither of them said anything. They noticed how their hands lingered when they let go, Alex feeling Kara's smooth skin. Alex’s was a little rougher ue to the hard training she went through, but her movements were still gentle. Kara wished she could hold her hand longer, learning every lines and every rough spot, but she had done enough for today. She didn't want to put Alex in an awkward position by doing something she didn't like, or going too fast too soon.

Alex seemed to read her thoughts though as she leaned again against the railing like she was before and looked into the distance. "So, when do you want to go get that coffee ?" She sneaked a glance at Kara and seeing her surprised face she shrugged. "Well, I only know your name and your second job whereas you know my full name, my main job and most likely all of my eating habits as I practically live in this place. It's only fair," she grinned.

Kara's smile became wider and wider and cheeks pinker and pinker, eyes twinkling. "Whenever ! Well, okay, not like  _whenever_ because I do have a second job." She paused. "Or a first job I guess, if this one is my second one ?" she wondered out loud. Alex's snort made her come back to the present, chuckling embarrassingly. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Anyway, I'm kinda free anytime, I just have to know a little in advance so I can coordinate my break with yours."

Alex smiled, glad to see she was still as kind and as accommodating as before. "Sounds good."

"Great ! So, I'll just let you know then ?" She held out her hand, palm up, looking at Alex intently.

"What ?" Alex frowned, looking at Kara's hand in confusion.

"You phone, so I can give you my number," she grinned as she rolled her eyes. Like it was obvious that the caped and anonymous super hero was going to give her number to basically a stranger.

Alex tensed though, remembering that she hadn't been able to bring herself to delete her number. She couldn't let Kara see her phone now, couldn't risk her seeing her name already in. Because Supergirl had a new number so she wouldn't have old acquaintances text or call her, Alex didn't have her number but she did keep Kara's old one. Sometimes she called it so she could hear her voice, her real voice with the warmth and glee that came with it. At the end of the voicemail message, you could hear her giggle because Alex made funny faces at her so she'd break and have to do it all over again.

"You know what, why don't we go grab a drink ?" she blurted out, saying the first idea that came to her head.

Kara froze, hand still waiting. "What— Like _now_?"

Alex felt a bit unsure, asking a girl out for drinks in the evening sounded exactly like a date. "Yeah, why not ? It's not too late and the Alien bar isn't far."

Kara squirmed in her place, looking nervous. "Yeah, sure."

Frowning, Alex took her hand. She didn't want to make her uncomfortable. "Kara, it's okay if you don't want to, it's just a suggestion. I'm sorry if I said something..."

"No !" Kara practically shouted as she held Alex's hand back, clenching her own by accident. Alex hissed at the sudden pressure but nothing was sprained or broken, just a little painful. "Sorry, sorry !" she exclaimed worriedly as she squinted at Alex's hand, obviously x-raying it.

"I'm fine Kara," she chuckled, rubbing soothingly her hand. "Really," she assured her with a gentle smile, making her see she could clench and unclench her hand easily.

"I'm very sorry," she apologized again. "I—" At Alex's look she promptly closed her mouth shut with an audible  _click._ She sighed. "You didn't say anything wrong, it's just that you didn't want it to be a date and going out for drinks really feels like a date and—"

"Yeah I know, that' why I said it's okay if you don't want to. And, um..." She rubbed the back of her neck and looked away. "It's not that I don't want it to be a date, it's just— we don't know each other that well but I don't want to mess it up, you know ?" She put her hand in her pockets, brushing the ground with the tip of her shoe and shrugged, feeling awkward.

She was still looking down at her shoe, moving a little rock (from when Supergirl landed a little too heavily on the balcony) from left to right then back to the left, when she saw Kara's hand coming into her field of vision, hesitantly reaching for her shirt.  
She froze, waiting to see what she was going to do, and almost laughed when she just tugged at it, wanting to get Alex's attention.

She looked up to see Kara's gaze locked on her hand that was now playing with the edge of Alex's polo. "I don't want us to feel awkward," she quietly admitted, making Alex's heart skip a beat. "It can be whatever we want, we don't even have to name it, right ?" She looked up with her big, hopeful blue eyes. "As the youngsters say, _we don't have to put a label on it."_

Alex couldn't hold her snort at this which quickly became a full belly laugh. Kara seemed nervous at first, thinking she was being made fun of, but upon closer examination, which included a long loving gaze upon Alex's beautiful laughing face, she saw that it was a genuine, happy laugh. So she joined her with a little chuckle, wanting to appreciate Alex's expressions and micro gestures when she let go like this.

"Dork," Alex said with a warm smile, eyes sparkling with unshed tears from all of the laughing.

Kara didn't think she ever saw such beauty and freedom and she felt a surge of emotions rushing through her, almost choking her. At that moment, she realized she couldn't let the Agent go, she had to hold on and do anything to keep her close.

She chuckled breathlessly, not able to form any words right now, and blushed at Alex's open expression.  
Alex laughed again at Kara's shyness and bumped her shoulder playfully before leaving the balcony.

"Let me go change then we'll go to the bar," she said quietly over her shoulder, almost a whisper, knowing she would hear her.

Kara blushed again, both in nerves about her evening and because Alex whispering like that did things to her weak little heart, now pounding loudly in her chest. She almost worried that everyone in the command center could hear it and she had to remind herself that she was the one with super-hearing.

She waited for Alex on the balcony but this time she was sitting on the railing, her legs hanging in the void, the city life roaring under her. She wanted to go fly a little before Alex got back, but she didn't want to have her hair all messed up or miss Alex's return. She did go quickly change though, her dark red dress and cardigan in place as usual.  
So she stayed put, hands on her lap while her legs wriggled in anticipation, both giddy and nervous.

"Ready to go, Supergirl ?"

She was trying to relax so she was startled by the voice, especially knowing who it belonged to, and briskly turned around while putting her hands on the railing, clenching automatically as she tried not to fall in front of her— of Alex. A loud creaking noise echoed in the DEO, even from outside, as Kara accidentally bent the metal railing. She was so embarrassed that she tried to turn around, wanting to leave this cursed balcony, but slipped a little. She almost fell but floated to keep herself from making sure Alex would never see her in romantic capacity ever.

Landing softly, really softly, on the balcony, she scowled when she heard several snickers but blushed a deep red when she locked eyes with Alex.

First of all, what right did Alex have to look so good in casual clothes ? Tight black jeans, a dark red sweater and a black leather jacket had no business making someone look this stunning. She immediately wanted to pout at the unfairness of the situation. What was she supposed to do now ? She tried really hard to keep a safe distance between them (if you didn't count the time she actually tried to kiss her) at all times, not wanting to invade Alex's space, but now she wasn't sure she would be able to. She could smell her perfume from here, lightly spread after a quick shower. The smell was intoxicating.

And second of all, Alex's very red face was also distracting because it was _rude_ wanting to laugh so much at someone that she had trouble breathing.  
She was grateful though, because Alex's efforts kept her from seeing Kara just blatantly staring at her, full on creep mode activated. She never did that with anyone, but something about Alex made it impossible to behave like a normal human being. Or well, like a normal alien being.

She sighed, resigned, while pulling away the cape that fell on her head during her fall. "Go ahead." She rolled her eyes when Alex just put her hand flat on her mouth to keep any air from gushing out. "You can laugh. I mean, we may as well get used to it now as it's not going to stop anytime soon for me."

After a beat of trying to keep it in, Alex finally exploded and laughed out loud as the snickering behind her became a little louder and soon the whole DEO was laughing.

Behind his closed door, J'onn stayed in his office but quietly laughed as the agents practically threw mental images of the scene at him. Whatever happened, the Danvers will be fine ultimately.

Kara full on pouted now, arms crossed and bottom lip sticking out for effect. With her crinkle in place, she had the full look.  
While wiping away a stray tear, Alex saw Kara's expression and sobered up quickly. With a smile still in place, she made her way to Kara, going to stand next to her.

"You do know we're not actually mocking you, right ?"

"Sure you're not. _You're not laughing at me, you're laughing with me,"_ she mumbled as she mimicked someone else's voice.

Alex chuckled and put her arm over Kara's shoulders. "Look, this is a good thing." Kara reluctantly looked at where Alex was gesturing with her hand next to Kara's head. Everyone was chuckling, resuming their activity with a smile on their faces. Some smiled at Kara and some were still laughing, but no one seemed to have malicious intents. "We've been so tense here because of the Vrunphals, I think it's good for everyone to relax and laugh a little. Take it as a service to the DEO, a sacrifice as you may," she smirked, knowing she got her point across when Kara was still pouting but her crinkled had disappeared. 

After a short moment, Kara cracked and smiled, her fake bad mood forgotten. "I mean, it's not really a sacrifice if it's not on purpose. It's more like my cross to bear, but I bear it happily if I can share my good mood," she earnestly said, gazing at the DEO command center where everyone visibly relaxed, just as Alex said.

"Well, thank you then," smiled Alex, taking her arm away. She went back inside, turning when she saw she was walking alone. "Are you coming ?"

Kara stared at her for a second before super-speeding next to her, right at her side in the blink of an eye.


	2. Seat's taken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello, I haven't forgotten ! Just tried to update [Kara2](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16743754/chapters/42219743#workskin) first before going back to this one and update it too.
> 
> Well, I hope you enjoy this one ! It's a bit lighter but don't worry, the seriousness comes back next chapter. 
> 
> Stay tuned !

"You didn't !"

"I did."

Kara laughed harder, leaning back in her seat for support, a hand slapping the table separating them at the alien bar. "You actually blew up your mother's kitchen because you were working on an experiment." At Alex's nod she continued. "When you were seven," she deadpanned.

Alex smirked then, putting her elbows on the table with the drink in her hand. "Actually, I wasn't seven yet. The experiment I was working on was to make flying candles to surprise my parents on my birthday but... Didn't go as planned." 

She rolled her eyes at herself before taking a sip, watching Kara laugh again over the rim of her drink.

"You know what," Kara chuckled. "I'm not even surprised. Of  _ course  _ you would be more advanced than all of the seven— sorry,  _ six  _ years old. You wouldn't want a doll or a popgun, you wanted to make things fly."

Sighing, Alex put down her glass, gaze lost in the brown liquid. "Maybe I should have waited for you then," she joked, but her sad undertone caught Kara's attention. Sensing the mood shift, Alex tried to divert the conversation. "So, tell me how you got here."

The question seemed to get Kara's attention away from dangerous waters as she frowned, suddenly confused by the changing subject. "Got where ?"

Alex chuckled, relieved she still could distract Kara. "On Earth."

Instead of sadness and longing, Kara only displayed joy and pride. She beamed, actually happy to tell the story. Alex remembered a second later that those emotions were no longer part of Kara, no longer weighing her down.   
She looked around after asking her question, remembering that they weren't alone, even though it felt that way. But they had their privacy, hidden in the far corner of the bar, comfortable in their booth.

"Well, a couple of years ago my training program to become a scientist ended and to officiate it I needed to go on a quest of my own. No family, no familiar grounds, nothing. Knowing what your yellow Sun gave me here, I decided to come and help as much as I could, pushing my limits and boundaries. I mean, Kal-El is here, but in a different city... It's cheating a little, but I really wanted to come to Earth."

Alex had asked J'onn to tell her the strict minimum, not wanting to compromise everything by letting it slip that she knew something about Supergirl she shouldn't. So she was really discovering her story, as fake as it was, and Kara's circumstances. She couldn't help but compare Supergirl and Kara's, wondering if Kara would really be this way if it had really happened to her, if she really did come here at her own accord, expecting to see her parents again.

"That's very noble of you," she remarked honestly. "How much time do you need to stay here to officially finish your program then ?"

"Actually, it ended already. I just needed to complete a humanitarian mission and I did that already with Supergirl. But I didn't think I'd like it here so much that I would prolong my stay," she admitted with pink cheeks, scratching behind her ear in shyness. "Though I shouldn't be surprised, Kal did decide to stay here too."

Alex was surprised by Kara's admission, and surprised J'onn went with it. Though it made sense, making her want to come here  _ and  _ stay with no pressure from her parents. "Well, I'm glad you like it. It could use some improvement but I think you're already taking care of that."

Kara cheeks went a shade deeper at the compliment, and she reached for her glasses in a nervous tic. "I'm not— it's a team effort, I wouldn't be able to do anything I do here without you guys having my back."

An always smiling Kara was all that Alex dreamed of and it was right in front of her, and she didn't want to waste any second of it. "Of course we do. We also wouldn't be able to do half of the things we do without you, so remember that," she said as she raised her glass between them, waiting for Kara's beer to clink her drink. As Kara raised her beer, Alex toasted. "To Supergirl and the little guys behind her."

Kara scoffed, retreating her glass just before Alex's touched it. "To the DEO and Supergirl supporting them," she corrected, using super-speed to clink their drinks before Alex had time to protest. 

Huffing, Alex rolled her eyes and drank, putting down her empty drink with a thud. Kara's gaze followed her movement and a second later she had a full glass, not a hair on Kara's head out of place. "You don't have to keep paying for my drinks, Kara."

Kara smiled sweetly at her, all warmth and openness. "I know. I kind of owe you after what I did during your interrogation though," she admitted sheepishly.

"You made up for it ten times over when you lead the next one, extracting information and finding a way to get rid of those vermin.  _ I  _ should buy you a drink," she countered with a raised eyebrow.

Laughing softly at Alex's logic, Kara just slid the drink closer to Alex, daring her to refuse. "Next time then."

She sounded confidant and playful, but Alex could hear the nervousness and the hesitancy. She leaned forward on her forearms that rested on the table between them, trying to get a little closer to Kara, make her understand. "Next time," she agreed with a smile, taking a sip without taking her eyes off Kara.

Kara flushed and grinned. She felt hot all of the sudden and chugged her bear all in one go to quench her thirst, trying to recover from a flirty Alex. Or maybe she wasn't flirting, maybe she was just being nice or just friendly, she did say it was a friendly date so she— 

"It was an attempt at flirting, yes."

But maybe she wasn't interested after all and now she— 

"Wait, what ?"

Kara never saw Alex so vulnerable, not even when she caught her crying in the training room days ago. Alex had her head lowered but was looking at her through her eyelashes, as though she was shy but still worked up the courage to look her in the eyes.

At Kara's question she flushed, playing with her fingers that were still holding her drink. "You were rambling, yes, _ out loud _ ," she specified to a confused Kara. "And I—" She chuckled awkwardly, passing her hand through her hair. "It shouldn't be this hard," she murmured while shaking her head, frustrated at her shyness and embarrassment. She licked her suddenly dry lips, gaining Kara's attention. Kara's eyes flickered toward Alex's lips before returning to her eyes, a much safer target. "I just— I'd like to count this as a— a date. A  _ date  _ date," she clarified for Kara's benefit.

Kara knew she was gaping but couldn't help it. She really didn't see this coming, Alex actually agreeing to this friendly date being a romantic one. Grinning like an idiot, Kara nodded eagerly her head, almost like a blur.

"Yeah, yeah !" she answered enthusiastically, almost breathless at the idea of Alex seeing her as a possible romantic partner. 

They were both staring each other in silence, the awkwardness back but in a good way. It was the good kind of awkward, the kind that left you breathless and nervous and giddy, heart beating faster just at the thought of seeing the other person. It didn't immobilize them out of fear. It made them move forward, toward one another.

"Alex ?"

Both women turned their heads to see Winn standing there, watching them both in confusion. Kara straightened though because he wasn't supposed to know who she was. "Hello," she said politely, trying to sound detached. 

Winn frowned, the surprising situation making him forget Kara  _ did  _ forget him. "K—"

"Winn, what do you want ?" Alex almost shouted, quickly cutting him off before he slipped up and made a huge mistake. Both heads turned her way, surprised at her outburst. "I'm busy here. This is my friend Kara," she pretended to introduce them with a meaningful look.

Winn fidgeted with his tie and Kara with her glasses.

"Oh, he— hello, nice to meet you," he said while he extended his hand for her to shake. "I'm Winn." 

"I know," Kara answered as she shook his hand. "I mean—" she spluttered with wide eyes. "Alex told me about you."

Winn flinched when Kara squeezed a little too tightly but she didn't see it as she sent a panicked glance towards Alex. "You have a strong handshake," he mumbled.

Alex wanted to hit her head against the table and slip into a coma to stop seeing them lie so terribly. Kara flushed at Winn's comment, hearing it as clearly as if he had shouted. Sighing, Alex looked at Winn wearily. "Was there something you wanted ?"

The awkwardness at the table was palpable and she wanted him gone so she could resume her date with Kara. Her  _ date  _ ! She didn't even think what it must look like to Winn, them sitting there and staring at each other like they were... It totally looked like a date, she was sure. And she hadn't told anyone that was something she may want with Kara, didn't even think of people’s reactions who knew her.

Her bored expression turned into a slightly panicky one as she glanced at Kara who was already looking at her. She gave her a nervous smile before refocusing on Winn that was still standing there. Quietly looking at them.

"No," he finally said slowly, as if he was trying to buy himself some time to figure out what they were doing. "No, I just saw you and came here to say hi..." He paused, looking at Kara then back at Alex. "And see what you were doing here."

"Well, you saw and now you can go," she harshly said, her patience wearing thin.

He started at her for a second, eyes squinted in suspicion, and looked at Kara smiling. "So, how did you two meet ?" He was curious about how they wanted to approach this situation.

"At work." The answer was immediate and Alex's kick into Kara's shin was also immediate. Even if she didn't feel it, she felt the warning behind it and glared at Alex before looking back at Winn with a sweet smile. "I work as a barista and Alex came by a few times to buy coffee," she lied, impressing both Winn and Alex at how smooth she was.

Alex also filed the fact that she was a barista now into a corner of her mind, determined to ask Kara why she chose this job. "Yep, so that's how it happened."

Seemingly forgetting who she was talking to, her coworker but more importantly, Alex's coworker, Kara didn't stop there. "Then I asked her on a date and she said yes, so here we are."

There was a long silence during which all of them froze. Kara knew she screwed up, but was more worried about Alex's reaction and how she was undoubtedly going to be mad at her for telling this to her coworker. Well, he didn't know she was Supergirl, so it shouldn't matter.   
Alex tensed because Winn knew that Kara was, once upon a time, her foster sister, and didn't know how he was going to take the news. She wasn't going to deny the fact they were on a date, she loved Kara too much for that.   
And Winn apparently went into shock.

"A date," he repeated, his face showing no emotion. He stood there, staring at Alex wordlessly for a moment. "A date," he said again, his eyes getting lost into nothing. "Right, yeah. Okay then. I'll let you get back to it." He didn't move though, his blank expression masking his internal confusion. "Right." And he left without saying goodbye, leaving them both stunned, wondering how their date turned around in just an instant.

"Alex, I'm—"

"So, that happened..." Alex commented, still watching Winn walking aimlessly away.

"I'm really—"

"So, where were we ?" Alex asked, gaze returning on Kara, whom she just interrupted for the second time.

Alex was worried about Winn's reaction, but that was a question for later. For now, she had to reassure Kara that she wasn’t embarrassed of her or that she didn’t mind her colleagues knowing.   
Although, Kara being her foster sister at one point was just complicated thing but wasn’t the only surprising thing. Alex was on a date with a  _ woman,  _ surely her friends will find that unexpected. 

Too focused on Kara’s worries, she didn’t notice herself think that her friends  _ will  _ and not  _ would  _ find that fact sudden.

Kara frowned, irritated at being cut off when she was just trying to apologize. "Will you let me talk ?"

"Not if you're going to apologize," Alex answered while she took a sip, looking around. At Kara's silence, she looked at her. "You don't need to. Apologize, I mean. That's okay, he doesn't know who you are," she lied. "And even if he did, I know him well enough to know he's not going to tell people."

"Alex," Kara sighed, her look intense as she leaned forward to put her hand on Alex's forearm. "I'm not worried he's going to tell people I went on a date with you. It's just— I know he's your coworker  _ and  _ friend, I'm just worried I guess. I didn't want to tell him something you didn't want him to know."

Kara looked down when she felt a pressure on her hand and smiled when she saw it was Alex's hand. "I'm not worried about that," she promised as she shook her head.

Chuckling, Kara squeezed a little Alex's arm. "Then I'm not worried either."

* * *

 

Their date went really well. During the evening, they got hungry so they ordered burgers at the bar and Alex didn't bat an eyelash at the quantity Kara ordered. 

"No comment ?"

Alex looked up from her burger, saying something intelligible because her mouth was full.

Kara snorted, a cute snort of course, and raised her eyebrows. "I asked if you had no comment," she said again, glancing at her plate to show what she was talking about.

Alex followed her gaze, looking at Kara's full plate. She looked a little to the right, watching the second and third plate on Kara's left, also full. She had three double burgers, and the rest of the plate was just fries. Fries everywhere.

She shrugged, swallowed and took another bite. She forgot to have good manners in Kara's presence, she was just so comfortable and their date was going so well that she made herself at home. "I'm basically your doctor, don't think I don't know how much you need to eat," she stated, talking around her food.

"I know that," she said, plopping some fries into her mouth, almost swallowing them whole. "I just thought, you know. Knowing and seeing are two different things."

Alex bit back a chuckle when Kara’s last sentence reminded her of what she told Winn earlier in the day.

Taking a sip of her beer, Alex shook her head. "It doesn't bother me. You can inhale your food as fast as you want."

Kara grinned, clasping her hands in front of her, leaning forward. "Is that a challenge ?"

Alex finished her beer, taking the time to assess the situation. How could she not take advantage of her situation ? 

"Okay. Okay, if I can guess, roughly, how much time you need to eat all of this, then..." She tapped her lower lips, thinking. "Then you let me pay for tonight." She knew she had a low pay at CatCo, so she couldn't imagine how much she made being a barista. If she could help out a little, that was the opportunity. 

Kara's grin stayed in place, sure she couldn't lose. "Okay. And  _ when  _ I win," she said with a low voice, "then I get to pick where we're going next time."  _ Cheeky.  _

Alex's determination to help Kara pay for tonight faltered. She seemed so happy to decide what they'd do for their next date and looked so confidant she'd win this bet, Alex didn't have the heart to cheat now. She knew how much time her old Kara would take to eat all of this so she clearly had a head start.   
Seeing Kara's smile and happy attitude, she decided against it.

"Sure. Come on then, let's go !"

* * *

 

" _ Kara for the win !"  _ Kara shouted almost intelligibly as she still had food in her mouth, spluttering some of it back on her plate, fists raised in victory.

Across from her, Alex was laughing loudly while clapping, clearly enjoying the show. She felt so light in this instant, not having laughed so much since Kara left them.   
Being like this with this Kara, laughing and betting and eating, it meant so much to her. She felt her eyes sting a little but didn't panic, she knew her loud laughter was a good cover up. She still wasn't sure if it was because she was emotional or because she did laugh too much.

Kara was grinning, bits of food hanging from her mouth but she didn't care because it only made Alex laugh harder and that's all she needed right now.   
She took a napkin to wipe the food and yes, a little bit of drool, without stopping watching Alex.

Alex seemed to laugh even harder when she attempted to wipe all of the food off her face and Kara frowned, wondering why cleaning up was  _ that  _ funny.   
A beat later, Alex leaned forward and took the napkin from her hand before doing it in her place.

"I'm not a baby," Kara huffed, trying to avoid Alex's hand.

Alex stilled, eyes narrowed. "Are you sure ? Because you basically missed all of the spots where you actually have food on your face."

Kara felt herself blush and muttered some noncommittal retort as she looked away. Alex laughed again and proceeded to clean Kara's face while the latter didn't move, making it easier on Alex.

"Oh my god," Alex whispered, and when Kara looked up she was met with beautiful brown eyes looking right at her. Before she had time to blush even deeper, Alex laughed  _ again.  _ "You even have sauce on your glasses !"

At this Kara did blush, feeling the tip of her ears burn in embarrassment. "It was on purpose," she defended weakly, not even hopeful her lie would be bought, and took them off to clean them with another napkin.

"Sure," she deadpanned, finishing with a final wipe on the corner of Kara's mouth to clean her up. "There, all done," she declared, throwing playfully the napkin at Kara's face.

"Thanks," she mumbled, face still red. 

"Come on," Alex chuckled as she nudged Kara's knee with her foot, taking a sip of her beer. "It wasn't that bad. I've seen worse," she said as she thought about her old Kara trying to beat her record. And she did, but not without losing some of her dignity in the process. Alex has still been proud of her though.

"You have ?" Kara's surprised tone made Alex realize what she just said. She panicked a little but knew she could find an explanation for this, after all she lied to her old Kara who knew her inside and out for years when she was at the DEO.

"Um, yeah," she gulped, putting her glass down. Kara squinted at her while she finished cleaning up her glasses, either in suspicion or because she was faking not seeing well out of habit. "You know, babies are not much better," she joked, hoping that comparing her to a baby,  _ again,  _ would make her forget about her slip up.

No such luck. "Used to babies, Agent Danvers ?" she asked with an arched eyebrow, tone flirty but a real curiosity behind it.

"Oh, not really, I just— we fostered a kid when I was young. She had horrible manners, not unlike you," she teased with a grin.

Of course, Kara seemed genuinely interested in that topic and dropped the flirty and light tone for a more curious one. "Really ? That's a cool thing to do. Is she still with your family ?"

Shifting uncomfortably on her seat, Alex cleared her throat and drank again, buying herself some more time. Putting it back down she played with some leftover she had on her plate, grabbing one fries and turning it over in her hand. "No, she— um, she found another family."

What stung the most was that it wasn't even a lie. Kara  _ did  _ find another family, her real one. Her real and dead one, sure, but she still chose fiction over the Danvers; over Alex. 

She let out a watery chuckle and shrugged, tipping her head down to try to hide her misty eyes.  Why was she like this ? She finally accepted Kara's choice, she understood it  _ and  _ she was on a date with Kara; things couldn't be better. And yet, she was still sad, heartbroken over her choice.   
She closed her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the unshed tears when she felt a pressure on her hand, warmth spreading through her.

She looked up to see Kara leaning in, her hand on Alex's, eyes understanding and sad somehow. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't want to bring up painful memories."

She was rubbing her thumb on Alex's hand in a soothing gesture, never leaving Alex's eyes. Alex was so grateful to have this Kara, so grateful she still chose to know Alex and wanted an even more deep relationship with her. The warmth of Kara's hand stayed in her even after she pulled back, leaving Alex some space, knowing that the effect Kara had on her was growing every day.

"That's okay," she sniffed but with a smile. "It still hurts but I understand her choice. I just..."

"Miss her," Kara finished her sentence with a sympathetic nod. At Alex's small smile, Kara straightened. "Well", she exhaled loudly as if trying to let all of the tension they felt out of her body. "I didn't mean to ruin the mood. But really, you should kind of get used to it, because my awkwardness knows no limit."

Alex snorted, feeling her tense muscles relax. "Yeah, don't worry, I got that from the first five minutes we met," she teased.

Scoffing, Kara crossed her arms. "Excuse you," she said with an offended expression. "I've been told I can make a fool of myself in the first  _ two  _ minutes of meeting someone, so clearly I was off my game that day."

"Clearly," Alex laughed, back to her old and light self.

Kara couldn't suppress the smile she felt coming, proud to have cheered Alex up. If she had to hear one thing for the rest of her life, it would be Alex's loud and unbid laugh, so free and happy.

Their conversation trailed off as they were just enjoying each other's company and drinking in a comfortable silence. Taking a breath of courage, Kara broke the silence.

"So, I won our bet."

Alex arched an eyebrow with a smile, a finger brushing absentmindedly the rim of her glass. "You did."

"Does that— I get to choose what we do for our next date." She nervously looked down at her wringing hands. "I mean, will there be a— a second date ?" she asked, looking up to see Alex's expression.

Alex smiled, eyes full of adoration. "Of course," she answered softly, shattering any hesitation Kara might have had. "We'll do whatever you want, I'm in," she assured.

"Oh, that's—" Kara sighed, visibly relieved, relaxing in her seat. "That's good, great," she said with a wide smile, happy.

Alex laughed for what felt like the hundredth time that night. "Good, great," she repeated while chuckling, noticing Kara had another tell for when she was relieved about something.

"That's something I often say, isn't it," asked shyly Kara, cheeks pink.

Alex hummed with a smile. "It's not the only tell you have, but I'm not going to tell you more," she teased.

"Honestly, I have so much of them that I don't think I even want to know what they are," she answered while shaking her head in fake desperation. "But anyway, do you have things you  _ don't  _ want to do next time ? I have to prepare, you know," she said with a grin.

Alex looked up as she thought about things she wouldn't want to do but came up empty. "I don't think so. I trust you, do what you have in mind and I'll follow," she stated surely.

Kara looked at her wordlessly for a moment, heart beating loudly in her chest.  _ I trust you.  _ It meant a lot for her that a Human trusted her like that, not to save her life or protect her, but just to have fun like normal people. She didn't want to disappoint her, she felt like there was too much at stake. "I'll think of something."

"Sure you will, Supergirl," Alex whispered a little too loudly in a public place, giggling. 

A slow grin appeared on Kara's face as her eyebrows shot up. "Are you  _ drunk,  _ Agent Danvers ?" she asked slowly with amusement obvious in her voice.

Alex scoffed with a vague wave of her hand. "I'm fine, I'm not a light-weight," she stated, but the slight slurring of her words indicated the opposite.

"I'm sure you're not, but maybe it's time to call it a night ?" she suggested with a hint of concern. 

Alex put her cheek against her fist, elbow on the table, and stared at Kara through her eyelashes. "But I don't want tonight to end," she almost whined, getting really close to pouting.

Feeling the famous butterflies in her stomach, Kara couldn't fight the blush she felt coming at Alex's words and behavior. "That's— you know, we're going to see each other soon," she offered, trying to convince Alex.

"How soon is  _ soon  _ ?"

Kara's eyes flutter to Alex's lips, the lower one sticking out a little in an almost-pout. "Um— Well, when we're both—" Alex licked her dry lips, making Kara's brain stop functioning for a second and had to clear her throat to talk. "Both available."

Crossing her arms on the table, Alex put her chin on her forearm, looking up at Kara. "When are you available then ?" she asked in a low, almost vibrant voice that made Kara shiver.

She had to look away for a beat, still not used to this flirty and no-filter Alex. "I have work tomorrow but only the morning shift, so I get off at one."

Alex smiled, tilting her head to the side a little. "Okay, so I'll come get you then," she stated as if Kara had no other choice, like it was obvious. And Kara didn’t mind.

Excited and nervous all at once, Kara was giddy at the prospect of Alex coming to pick her up at her job. It felt so normal, so Human, but especially so natural, like being with Alex was meant to be.

Smiling widely, Kara nodded. "Deal." After a beat, she extended her hand, palm up as she did at the DEO earlier. "Give me your phone, I'll give you my number and work address."

Without looking away, Alex shifted a little to take her phone out of the pocket and handed it to Kara. She was so happy she thought about changing the name of Kara's old number in her phone when she went to the bathroom earlier, just in case. It paid off. She renamed her contact "Danvers" so if Kara saw it she'd thought it would be the family number and not some random girl.

Kara happily entered her information in Alex's phone and put a little heart at the end of her name, just because. "There, all done ! So I'll be at this address tomorrow morning, I'll wait for you."

Alex accepted her phone back, fingers lingering on Kara's. "Good, great," she mumbled, teasing but visibly sleepy now.

Kara chuckled and got up. She put enough bills to pay their tabs for the night and went to Alex's side, putting a hand on her far shoulder. "Time to go to bed," she stated softly, bending a little so their faces would be closer and she wouldn't have to talk louder.

It was already past eleven and they had a full day at work so it wasn't surprising Alex was this sleepy after everything she drank tonight. Kara was just happy that tomorrow was Saturday, meaning Alex didn't work and Kara only worked the morning shift; she had the afternoon and the day after completely free.

Feeling someone rubbing between her shoulder blades, Alex opened an eye she didn't realized she closed and saw Kara leaning in, speaking softly to her. She groaned and slowly straightened, rubbing her eyes. "Did I actually fall asleep ?"

Kara breathed out a chuckle and straightened too, leaving a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Almost."

Clearing her throat Alex got up as well and stretched out, feeling the hours of sitting deep in her bones. "Sorry, I think the fatigue _plus_ the alcohol..." she trailed off, glancing guiltily at Kara.

"That's what I thought too," she smiled, letting her hand fall from Alex's shoulder. "Come on, let's get you home," she murmured.

* * *

 

 

"That's certainly a useful skill you have there," Alex breathed out once they touched the ground, trying to keep the content of her stomach  _ in  _ her stomach.

Hands still on Alex's waist while she waited to be sure she wouldn't fall, Kara laughed. "Yeah, I'm really glad I get to avoid crowded buses, I hear the smell isn't that great."

Alex put her hands on Kara's arms that were still attached to her waist to keep herself steady. She felt the effects of the alcohol plus the short flight to get to her balcony. "I bet," she mumbled, focusing on staying up without stumbling too much.

Noticing the prolonged silence, so unlike Kara, Alex looked up to see Kara staring at her with an unreadable expression. She sucked in a breath when Kara leaned closer, her panic delayed due to her slightly inebriated state. Time seemed to have frozen and she felt like Kara was leaning in so slowly, but even with all this time she still didn't know what to do, didn't know if she was ready.

Her uncertainty must have been written on her face because Kara smiled softly and put a lingering kiss on Alex's cheek, soft and warm, just like she felt on the inside. Just like they made each other feel.

Both women flushed, Alex keeping her eyes on Kara as the latter seemed to come out of her daze and realized what she had just done. She didn't regret it but was a little panicky because Alex was a bit drunk and didn't want to do something that made her uncomfortable.   
She released Alex's waist, wanting to put some distance between them but Alex caught her hands as they dropped, making Kara look up.

"I had the best time tonight," she affirmed softly with a smile.

Kara's shoulder drooped in relief, reassured she didn't cross the line. "Me too," she whispered, looking so happy. "I feel like I've known you for— I don't know, like forever," she admitted softly, like she kept it hidden and finally let it out.

Alex felt her heart skip a beat at the words but forced herself to relax. After all, Kara forgot about their years together, but that didn't mean that some part of her didn't still recognize her. "Me too."

She didn't think it was possible but Kara brightened even more and gave her a beaming smile. "You do ?" she asked almost breathlessly, hope loud in her voice.

"I do," confirmed Alex in a breath, wondering yet again what she did to deserve this beautiful person.

They stood there, motionless, just staring at each other until Alex shivered, the cold wind sharp on her skin. "Oh, you should go in or else you'll catch a cold," suggested Kara, just now realizing the cold air as she didn't actually felt it.

"Yeah..." Alex didn't want to let go and knew that it showed but didn't care, she just wanted to spend more time with Kara, even if it was only seconds. So her hand lingered in Kara's as she took a step backward, slow and deliberate. Another one and their fingertips were still touching, Kara rooted in her spot and both of their arms extended to make the touch last longer.   
With a final sigh, Alex reluctantly let go and opened her French window and closed it, still looking at Kara through the glass, waiting for her to leave.

With a small wave and a shy smile, Kara bent her legs slightly and took off, waiting to be high enough to shout happily at the sky, spinning around in excitement and joy. She was so happy to have had the courage to ask Alex out, so happy to know her and so happy that she seemed to like her back. She was so lucky, she couldn't believe she'd find someone she liked this much on Earth, much less after only two years.

Alex made her way into her kitchen and took a bottle of water in her fridge, gulping loudly as she chugged it down to the last drop. She needed that after all the alcohol she drank  _ and  _ her last interaction with Kara. She wondered for a bit what the blonde was doing now and thought that if she was still the old Kara, she'd be flying in the sky to calm down after their date. She shook her head, smiling at the thought.

She slumped on her couch because she was too tired to go to her bed, a few feet away, removed her jacket and shoes and just fell asleep. She knew her neck would hurt in the morning but she was both physically and emotionally exhausted.

As for Kara, after spending a good half hour speeding through the clouds in giddiness, she finally went home, super-sped through a shower and went to bed. She thought she would be too excited about the day after to sleep but her nervousness of the day tired her more than she thought. She closed her eyes and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

 

 

* * *

 

 

No rest for the wicked, and so the brunette agent was striding at work first thing in the morning after having been called in by her boss.

“Hey,” she greeted breathlessly as she stopped next to Winn, eyes on the screen in front of him. 

He startled but didn’t advert his eyes, focused on his task. “Hey,” he said back distractly, typing quickly on the keys.

She waited a moment wordlessly at his side until her patience came to an end. “What’s up ?” Her feet was restless, tapping insistently on the floor.

“Nothing much,” he mumbled. “This new game came out though, and I really want—”

“I’m asking about  _ work _ , Winn,” she impatiently sighed, trying to understand what he was doing but to no avail; it was way too technical, even for her. Computers weren’t her field. 

He froze for a second before straightening and looking up at her, as if he only noticed she was there. “Oh ! Yeah, yeah, we got news,” he excitingly stated, whirling around in his chair to search through his stack of papers laying dangerously high on the side of his desk. He mumbled under his breath as he looked for what he wanted to show her until he swiftly pulled a piece of paper from the middle of the paper tower without making it falter and shouted “A- _ HA  _ !” while victoriously branding the sheet of paper with his raised arm.

A few agents glanced their way but most were used to his untrained excitement and didn’t pay attention anymore. “What did you find ?” Her annoyance was forgotten in favor of interest. If she’d been called in when she was supposed to be on her day off, it must be important.

“We found the Vrunphals’ planet; or rather, their ship. They’ve been orbiting around Earth for a while, most likely looking for them,” he proudly announced, happy to have some good news for once. “I’m still trying to figure out how to contact them because they seem to use some advanced technology, but I’m getting there.”

Alex had a burden fewer weighing heavily on her chest and felt like things could be good again, even without Kara Danvers. “That’s great, Winn? Good work.”

He stood a little taller at Alex’s compliment, the woman not one to give them away easily, and fidgeted with his tie; proud or not, his shyness remained.

“So, that’s the coordinates,” he explained while pointing a spot on the paper. “They’re not far from here actually, which is a surprisingly good coincidence. Once I’m able to access their mainframe, and I’m sure I’m almost there, it’ll just be a question of when and where and we’ll be able to get rid of those nasty beings.”

The short man shuddered, remembering what he saw on the reports; the testimonies and pictures were proof enough those aliens needed to be sent away as quickly as possible.

Alex nodded and patted him once on his shoulder. “Perfect. Good job.”

She took the sheet of paper from Winn’s hands and left without a glance in his direction as she was already completely focused on the informations scribbled before her eyes. After a moment, she frowned as she thought about what he told her. 

Without hesitation, she took the stairs two by two and strode into J’onn’s office. “We sho—” She cut him off in the middle of a word when busting the door open, him glaring at her as he pursed his lips to avoid telling her off while on the phone and gestured for her to close the door. “I’m sorry, General. Can I call you back ?” A pause of angry staring. “Thank you.” He closed his eyes as he hung up, breathed deeply twice, and slowly opened them again. “What is it, Agent Danvers ?”

Alex was  _ this  _ close to grimace at his annoyed tone but pushed through. “Sir, Winn told me about the Vunphrals’ spaceship.”

“And that warranted barging into my office ?” he grumbled with a frown as he reviewed what was written on the paper she just gave him.

Ignoring his little jab, she pointed at the same spot Winn did earlier. “Look at where they are. They’re not only hovering above the United States, Sir, they are practically above our State.”

His frown deepened and she saw him tense. “They know where they are,” he easily concluded, his tone grave.

The agent nodded with a worried expression. “Sir, I think they somehow know where they are. And I think it’s a trap.”

* * *

 

Alex was shuffling on her feet across from the coffee shop next to her bike, trying to gather her courage to actually go in. When she woke up, memories from the night before came rushing through her head and she hid her face in the couch cushions to groan loudly, embarrassed of her behavior. She could never drink again in front of Kara.   
So now, she was standing in front of Kara's place of work, staring into the shop. She was seeing people going in and out, coffees and phones in hand, and felt like she could breathe a little better. A look at her watch indicated she was fifteen minutes early, better to be early so she could freak out and not be late.

Inside, Kara was taking customers’ orders energetically, smile always on her face.

"I'll take a coffee, black, and um— Ma'am ?"

Kara stopped listening to the customer, head snapping towards the exit as she heard something familiar. A second later she had a dazzling smile and looked back to her customer.

"A black coffee, will that be all ?" she asked both sweetly and excitingly, eager to see Alex walk through those doors once her heart stopped beating so fast.

The customer seemed to get a whiplash from the change in demeanor from Kara but proceeded to give the rest of his order, Kara happily writing it down on the cup to give to her coworker who prepared the drinks.

"Coming right up," she announced, glancing every few seconds to the door even if she could she hear Alex coming.

She was bouncing on her feet, vibrating with excitement. A few minutes later, she immediately felt Alex coming in, taking a deep breath before pushing the door and making a beeline toward Kara.   
Once in front of her, she put her elbow on the counter and both women leaned in a little unconsciously, drawn to each other.

"Good morning, I'd like a coffee please," ordered Alex with a faked nonchalance. "Black."

"Hello. Will that be all ?" smiled Kara, eyes twinkling as she used her professional voice.

"Yep."

Kara nodded, still smiling. "Take a seat, we'll bring it to you."

Alex straightened and put a bill on the counter, glaring at Kara when she looked like she was going to protest. "I'll be waiting."

Kara stared at her until she took a seat and quickly looked away, blushing as she began preparing the coffee. "Hey Jake, can I take my break until my shift's over ? My friend's here," she asked as she put the cup under the coffee machine.

Jake, her colleague who was cleaning up behind the counter, glanced to where Alex was sitting. "Your friend's pretty," he grinned, still staring at Alex who was squinting at him in suspicion.

Kara whirled around, spilling the coffee on the floor. "Oh shoot !" she grumbled while crouching to clean it up. She looked up with an angry face, glaring at her colleague. "Jake !" she hissed. "She's not— don't look at her !"

His eyebrows shot up, looking down at Kara in surprise. "Why ? Is she taken ?"

Kara flushed at the implication. "Well— No— Not yet, maybe ?" she stammered, flushing even more and dropped her gaze, focusing back on cleaning her mess up.

"Oh, I see," he smirked, looking at Alex again who was still watching them with interest.

Kara grumbled under her breath and rose, face still red. She glanced at Alex and waved when they made eye contact, anger and embarrassment forgotten. Alex chuckled and waved back, whispering  _ dork  _ knowing Kara would hear it.  Imitating an indignant expression, Kara exaggerated a scoff and turned around to remake the coffee.

Mind focused on the coffee, intent on succeeding this time, Kara didn't notice Jake go to the other side of the counter, approaching Alex with a smile.

"Hey there," he grinned, stance confident.

Alex internally rolled her eyes and slowly looked up from watching Kara's back. "Hello." It wasn't said sharply but not warmly either, trying to convey her reluctance.

It didn't seem to deter him because he just kept grinning, leaning a little closer. "I'm Jake," he introduced himself. "You here to see Kara ?"

She held back a sigh, knowing they've been talking about her just a minute earlier behind the counter. "Yes."

One word answers weren't enough to make him understand her lack of interest as he kept trying to flirt. "That's nice," he nodded, obviously faking his interest as he passed his hand through his short, curly blond hair. "Can I sit ?"

"Seat's taken," Kara growled from behind him, making him jump and Alex smirk.

She pushed him slightly with her shoulder, making herself a path to the sit across from Alex and sat down forcefully, making her intention clear. She then gently pushed the coffee toward Alex with a sweet smile, completely ignoring Jake's stunned expression.

Alex didn't bother hiding her satisfied smile, brushing Kara's fingers with hers as she accepted the cup. They both stared at each other, paying no attention to a confused Jake, all smiles and googly eyes as Alex sipped at her coffee, feeling content. Knowing Kara was jealous and possessive was oddly satisfying and quelled her remaining fears of not being what Kara really wanted.   
Alex also liked that Kara seemed to forget her shyness in order to protect her Human from unwanted suitors, ready to shield her from anything.

Glancing toward the retreating figure of Kara's colleague, Alex smirked. "You didn't have to come rescue me, you know ?"

And just like that, confident and determined Kara was gone, leaving behind a stumbling mess. "I— I know ! It's not that you can't take or yourself or— or, you know," stammered the blonde, fidgeting with the edge of the table with both hands, head lowered. "I just—" A shrug. "I didn't like the way he looked at you," she finally admitted quietly. "I'm sorry if I overstepped—"

A warm and gentle pressure on her hand made her stop, she watched for a second Alex's hand on hers then glanced up to a smiling Alex. "I was kidding. I appreciate you coming to help, he just wouldn't understand I wasn't interested."

Kara seemed to relax, unclenching her fingers that were holding the table, leaving a small dent. "Well, he's nice enough," she said, glancing to the counter to see if he was listening and continued when she saw him on his phone with a grumpy face. "But sometimes he's a little much, you know. He wouldn't leave me alone at the beginning," she mentioned, rolling her eyes at the memories. "But once he understood I won't ever be interested, he gave up and became a good friend."

Alex wasn't convinced though, determined to glare at him at every possible occasion. "He better," she grumbled, visibly displeased at the situation.

A smile treacherously tugged at Kara's lips, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Are you jealous, Agent Danvers ?" she asked, incredulity clear in her voice.

Alex fought the need to cross her arms defensively and let go of Kara's soft hand, holding it tighter instead. "Maybe. Is that a problem ?" She asked the question playfully, but still dreaded the answer.

Feeling Alex's anxiety, Kara squeezed back. "It's not," she assured. "I'm glad, even, cause it makes me less feel like a crazy person."

"What ?" Alex blurted out with a chuckle, surprised at her admission. "Why ?"

Keeping in mind Alex's nervousness about this, Kara faced the question head on, looking Alex in the eyes. "Because, even though I wasn't until I met you, I'm going to be jealous and it's nice to know it's not just me," she admitted, for once, confidently.

Feeling warmth creeping up to the tip of her ears, Alex didn't know where to look and settled on Jake to remind her what started this conversation. She heard Kara chuckling when she averted her eyes, probably laughing at her sudden timidity. Used to divert the conversation when she wasn't in her element, she mumbled "Is it time to go yet ?"

Kara laughed freely at that and peeked at the clock on the wall, seeing that she still had five minutes until her shift was over she rubbed Alex's hand with her thumb before getting up. "Five more minutes, I'm going to finish up real quick," she promised over her shoulder with a smile.

Hiding her blush behind her hair, Alex took a sip of her coffee to finish it before leaving. She looked at Kara wiping the counter, speedily clean up the coffee machine and put some fresh bakeries on display before taking off her apron and hanging it up in another room.

She came back with the biggest smile, pink cheeks and a spring in her steps. “Ready to  go ?” She was practically bouncing on her feet in excitement, the butterflies in her stomach loud and buzzing, with a large bag over her shoulder.

Alex tried to bite back a smile and glanced at the clock. “Five minutes haven’t passed yet,” she suspiciously commented while her face betrayed her amusement.

The blonde only shrugged and shyly brushed her fingertips against Alex’s as she passed. She turned around to face the agent with a smug smile, walking backward towards the exit. “Jake can get by for five minutes without me. Can’t you, Jake ?” she called out a little louder so her colleague could hear her.

The man looked startled and Alex pursed her lips to hide her smirk. He numbly nodded, not really following what was going on, and watched them leave the coffee shop with a pleased expression on their faces.

Kara waited until they reached Alex’s bike across the street to giggle loudly. “Gosh, I hope he won’t be too mad at me.” Clearly, Kara was glad to have let the man take over the end of her shift but she still felt guilty about it.

Alex couldn’t hide the grin which took over her face, wondering if Kara realized that taking over her five minutes shift shouldn’t even be considered a favor.

“That’ll teach him,” she said instead, glad her colleague found himself alone at work and hoping a hundred clients would magically appear just to see him try to deal with it. She looked up from her feet to see the blonde watching her with an amused grin and she slightly blushed, her jealousy clearly obvious now. “So, fly or ride ?”

“Ride ?” The answer was immediate but hesitant, a light blush covering her cheeks. “I mean, you shouldn’t, you know, leave your bike alone for too long,” she rushed out the excuse with her face getting warmer by the second.

Knowing how flustering it could be, Alex only smiled softly took one helmet from each bag attached to the side of her bike. “Suit on, then,” she grinned as she tossed the shiny black helmet to a more relaxed alien who nodded with a shy smile.

 

* * *

 

 

"I didn't have much time to prepare for today because of work, but I asked if I could borrow some stuff..." she trailed off with a mysterious smile, slowly rising the lid off the basket which she hid in her large bag.

What first hit Alex was the smell, wonderful and entrancing. Then, when the lid was fully off, her mouth watered immediately at the sight. There were sandwiches that looked like the ones on fancy menus, fruits and even lemonade.

"Well, you have outdone yourself," commented Alex, eyes still on the food.

Kara grinned, happy to have done well, but it quickly turned into a frown. "Alex, you have some..." She gestured at the corner of Alex's mouth and Alex frowned too, shaking slightly her head in confusion. "Some drool," the blonde finally teased with the grin returning on her face.

The brunette scoffed with an embarrassed grimace but subtly traced the corner of her mouth with her thumb. Just in case.    
Kara giggled and rolled her eyes, getting back to taking the food out of the wooden basket and placing it on the soft blanket she previously laid out.

They both settled on the blanket, facing each other, with the food between them.   
Kara had chosen a high spot that required a little walk so they could enjoy the open sky, surrounded by big old trees and the calming scent of nature.

Alex didn’t actually know about this spot, but she figured that in the six months Kara spent without Alex she’d have found new places to hang out at.   
And she could understand this one. It was secluded enough to not have to worry about being found out by humans and near enough of the city to be on time if anyone needed help. It suited her old Kara well, and she was relieved to see that  _ this  _ Kara wasn’t too far from her former foster sister. It was a comforting thought.

“What are you smiling about ?”

Blinking her thoughts away, Alex’s attention went back to the beautiful blonde in front of her, watching her with curiosity and a softness she only saw in her old Kara. “Just… thinking that it’s a beautiful day,” she said as she looked up to the blue sky, the sun gently warming them.

The alien hummed and looked up too, closing her eyes to immerse herself in this ideal day, feeling quite literally the sun in her veins. This moment was perfect, and both women knew it was something they’d remember for a long time to come.   
This calming silence, the feeling of being the only ones in the world while being with the perfect person.

They stayed like that for a while, not worrying about the food turning cold or the drinks turning warm; the benefits of being Kryptonian.


End file.
